Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons funding for NHS staff mental health and wellbeing hubs ended on 31 March 2023.

No specific assessment has been made on the closure of NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs.

Staff mental health and wellbeing hubs were established in October 2020 with funding subsequently extended to March 2023. They were funded on a non-recurrent basis in response to the pressure on the workforce from COVID-19. NHS England has identified further national funding to maintain support for staff mental health in 2023/24 on a regional basis, as part of the transition towards a sustainable model for staff health and wellbeing support, which is based on a preventative, local level approach. Integrated care systems (ICSs) are able to supplement this with their own investment locally.

To ensure there is a long-term sustainable approach to supporting staff, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has tasked ICSs with developing and implementing plans to invest in occupational health and wellbeing services.