Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide mental health support to healthcare staff working in hospital wards dedicated to the treatment of patients with covid-19.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have put in place a comprehensive package of health and wellbeing services for National Health Service staff, including counselling helplines, free access to wellbeing apps, virtual staff common rooms and specialist bereavement and psychological support. £15 million has also been invested to strengthen mental health support for NHS staff. This funding is being used to set up mental health hubs that provide outreach and assessment services to help frontline staff receive rapid access to mental health services. Staff referred will be treated by local mental health specialists and those with the most severe needs will be referred to a specialist centre of excellence.