Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:54 pm on 24 February 2021.
Thanks very much, Jayne. I must say that I'm very pleased that we've been able to give an extra £1 million to enhance the support of the programme that we have, Health for Health Professionals Wales, and that psychological support, which includes a helpline. The Samaritans are there specifically to help people; there is a doctor who will be able to ring back within 24 hours. And what's really great is that we know that there's been a really good response to this provision.
Since that debate, I've been fortunate enough to meet the Royal College of Nursing and they were very clearly trying to outline to me the kind of trauma that people on the front line have been undergoing, and they know that's not trauma you can tuck away, that is something—. They haven't had a chance to process what they've gone through on the front line, and they're very aware that when it comes to this programme of intensity that they're going through at the moment, when they have time to process that, that's when the impact may hit them. And so they were very keen to emphasise that whatever we're putting in place now will not be able to be taken away, because that longer term trauma that we really have to consider, we will have to make sure that we are giving that support for the longer term, so I'm very pleased to see that. I'm very pleased to see also that the Royal College of General Practitioners have responded very positively also to the support we give to Health for Health Professionals Wales.