Oh Occupational Health and Wellbeing

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Where to get help

Immediate support

Occupational Health is not an emergency service. For Mental Health support please contact your GP or NHS 111

For urgent advice, call 111 and choose option 2 or visit your nearest hospital Emergency Department

Contact NHS 111 (opens in a new tab)

You can call NHS 111 if you or someone you know needs urgent care, but it’s not life threatening. For example:

  • if you have an existing mental health problem and your symptoms get worse
  • if you experience a mental health problem for the first time
  • if someone has self-harmed but it does not appear to be life threatening, or they’re talking about wanting to self-harm
  • if a person shows signs of possible dementia
  • if a person is experiencing domestic violence or physical, sexual or emotional abuse

Please note choose option 2 only when prompted for Mental Health service.

Book an emergency GP appointment

You can also contact your GP surgery and ask for an emergency appointment.

In a crisis, you should be offered an appointment with the first available doctor.

For more information, see Mind.org's information on GP appointments and bookings (opens in a new tab)

Visit the NHS website to find your local GP (opens in a new tab).

Visit A&E or call 999

A mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a medical emergency.

Examples of mental health emergencies include thinking you’re at risk of taking your own life or seriously harming yourself and needing immediate medical attention.

Call 999 if you or someone you know experiences an acute life-threatening medical or mental health emergency.

You can go to A&E directly if you need immediate help and are worried about your safety. You may be close to acting on suicidal thoughts or have seriously harmed yourself.

Help is a call away - Health Assured

Free, confidential support is available for staff and immediate family from Health Assured 24 hours a day, 7 days week. Health Assured is there to help support you with personal or professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing. Their helpline is available 24/7, 365 days a year free of charge to you.

Get support anytime anywhere; just call: 0800 783 2808

Or visit the Health Assured website (opens in a new tab) - free service for CUH staff - Log in to the portal using organisation code MHA140194

Confidential

The service is completely independent and your calls will always be treated in the strictest confidence.

You can call about anything that is troubling you whether it is personal difficulties, for example relationships, financial issues, family matters, stress, loss or bereavement or work- related issues such as stress management.

All calls are confidential between the caller and their counsellor or advisor. Exceptions can occur only if there is serious risk of harm to the caller or others. In such circumstances the counsellor will always seek guidance before breaching confidentiality.

Partners and dependents (living in the same household aged 16 to 24 and in full time education) can access the helpline. There is also an app ‘Health e-Hub app’ available from your app store free of charge.

Further information is available on the Health Assured website (opens in a new tab).

Support for managers

Managers can get free confidential support and guidance on a range of topics including:

  • Team member stress management
  • Conflict resolution
  • Communicating change
  • Performance and appraisals
  • Post-trauma support
  • Effectively signposting to the EAP service

Free 24 hour confidential helpline 0800 783 2808

Further information is available on the Health Assured website (opens in a new tab).

Help is only a click away

We understand that when in distress the information available needs to be accessible to you, whenever you require it. The Health Assured online services including the health and wellbeing portal and Health e-Hub app features a range of tools available 24/7 including:

  • Interactive health assessment
  • Fitness and lifestyle advice
  • Personal coaching tools
  • Self-help programmes
  • Work life information
  • Mini health checks
  • Home life support
  • Health calendar

Further informatation is available on the Health Assured website (opens in a new tab).

Other support

Occupational Health

Your manager can refer you or you can self-refer to our occupational health service, where we can help treat any physical health issues that are effecting your work. We know how not feeling your best can have a detrimental effect on your mental health and wellbeing. At Occupational Health and Wellbeing you will receive support and guidance from specialized: Oh advisers, Nurses, doctors, consultants and psychiatrists.

Email us to download the appropriate referral forms.

Staff Mental Health Service (SMHS)

The service is for all CUH staff (clinical and non-clinical) experiencing moderate to severe mental health symptoms that are impacting significantly on their functioning. The multi-disciplinary team offers rapid access to psychiatric assessment and advice. Following your assessment, you may be offered one, or a combination, of the following:

  • ongoing psychiatric review
  • brief mental health interventions delivered by our clinical nurse specialist team
  • evidence based psychological interventions delivered by clinical psychologists
  • Oh advice and support
  • signposting or referral to other services who can provide more appropriate support

You can be referred to SMHS via the CUH Occupational Health Team (Tel: 01223 216767) or via your GP. Most appointments are offered remotely via video call.

Please be aware that the SMHS is NOT an emergency mental health service. For urgent mental health concerns please contact the First Response Service (available 24/7) by calling 111 and selecting option 2.

People requiring standalone psychological therapy for mild to moderate common mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, OCD, single event trauma) should self-refer to their local Improving Access of Psychological Therapies Team. You can search for your local service via the NHS website (opens in a new tab).

Please see the CPFT website for further information on the SMHS (opens in a new tab).

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies is part of the National NHS Talking Therapies services and is the new name for CPFT Psychological Wellbeing Service. Their aim is to make psychological therapies more accessible to people experiencing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. The psychological therapies offered are approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) visit the CPFT website to find out more (opens in a new tab).

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies service provides help to people aged 17 and over who are experiencing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety disorders, including: generalised anxiety disorder (GAD); social anxiety; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); health anxiety; panic; phobias and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, you do not need a diagnosis to access the service and NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies also see people with problems such as stress, low confidence, sleep disturbance and self-esteem issues. There is no upper age limit for people accessing our service. You can self-refer online on the CPFT website (opens in a new tab).

Contact NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies

Telephone: 0300 300 0055
Phone lines are operational: 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday (closed Bank Holidays)

Email Talking Therapies.

Please note, NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies is not a crisis or emergency service and cannot provide an urgent response. If you are in a mental health crisis and need urgent support, please contact our First Response Service on 111, then select the option for mental health.

MIND

MIND (opens in a new tab) have a lot of useful information and give great support for mental wellbeing. MIND suggest Five Ways to Wellbeing that should be followed to improve your mental health wellbeing

  • Connect – stay connected to family and friends it improves health and wellbeing
  • Keep active – even low level exercise can make you feel better
  • Take notice – take time to notice the world around you, what is good, beautiful e.g. scenery
  • Keep learning – try something new, join a group
  • Give – do something nice for someone else it will make you feel better e.g. volunteer 
Mind In Cambridge.

MIND website (opens in a new tab)
Telephone: 01223 311320

Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds is also available for CUH staff. It is a confidential, multidisciplinary, forum where staff can discuss emotional and social dilemmas that arise in caring for patients which meets the second Thursday, 1-2pm every month at the Clifford Albutt Theatre. This initiative is being led by Dr Alasdair Coles, Clinical Lead; Dr Annabel Price, Facilitator; Revd Dr Derek Fraser, Facilitator and Coordinator.

'It's not just you'

Winner of 2013 National Positive Practice in Mental health award for mental well-being of staff. A friendly CUH group for staff with mental health issues or staff with family/friends with mental health issues that meet monthly. The group discusses coping strategies, lifestyle changes, sources of help; other topics related to mental health and occasionally have expert speakers on varying topics. With line manager’s agreement, staff can attend in working time.

For more information, please email Monica Jacot - CUH Equality and diversity lead.

Rehab 4 addiction

Rehab 4 addiction is a free drug and alcohol support service for young people aged between 18 and 26.

This is a free service, that helps assist people suffering from a range of addictions and mental health problems.

Rehab 4 Addiction offers free telephone assistance and also maintains useful resources and guides on its website.

Helpline: 0345 222 3508, 24 hours a day
Rehab 4 addiction website (opens in a new tab)