Question reference: S5W-34822
- Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 27 January 2021
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Clare Haughey on 28 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work being carried out to support the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s health and social care workforce at this time.
Answer
The Scottish Government is very grateful to all health and care staff for their hard work, commitment and professionalism over the Covid-19 response.
As we outlined on 22 January, the Scottish Government is pleased to be able to make £500,000 available to Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to fund additional practical support this financial year, in recognition of the support that health and social care staff may need at this time.
Today I have written to the Health and Sport Committee outlining the range of measures that the Scottish Government is taking to support the health and social care workforce.
This includes an update on the funding being allocated to Health Boards to enable them to recruit psychologists and other staff dedicated to supporting the mental health of the health and social care workforce. This funding will create up to 16 FTE posts to support the workforce over the next two financial years.
This funding to Boards is one component of a wider programme of work through the Health and Social Care Mental Health Network to support the wellbeing and mental health of the workforce, in line with the commitments made through the Programme for Government.
This includes the development of our National Wellbeing Hub and digital resources, a National Wellbeing Helpline and a new Workforce Specialist Service.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners across health and social care to respond to the emerging needs of the health and social care workforce.