Chief Nurse, Gary O’Hare talks resilience and more with Matt Hancock MP

Posted: 07/05/21

The Chief Nurse at a North East mental health Trust has virtually welcomed Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to the region to talk about resilience of staff throughout the pandemic.

Gary O’Hare, Chief Nurse at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, a provider of mental health and disability services spent time with the Secretary of State for Health and Social care and talked about issues such as resilience, supporting staff and the use of technology in the NHS.

During the discussion the pair paid tribute to the health and social care staff of the region in their efforts in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The videos of all of the topics are now available on the Department of Health and Social Care Healthcare Leaders blog.  The video discussing resilience is also available on the Department of Health and Social Care’s Linked In page.

Gary O’Hare, Chief Nurse at CNTW said: “The resilience of health and social care staff who’ve been working over the last twelve months has been astounding.  I have been in awe.  Our staff have continued to turn up and do an absolutely fantastic job day after day.”

Whilst paying tribute to the resilience of health and social care staff they also talked about the importance of accessing help for those who need it.

Matt Hancock MP was very clear that staff should be provided with the best support possible to ensure that staff remain resilient and have access to the right support as well as feeling able to and confident enough to ask for help when they need it.

In order to support health and care staff a wellbeing hub has been set up by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) and supports health and care staff to access what they need to stay mentally well throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are a number of options available when seeking support such as access to a helpline which provides a listening ear as well as information, advice and guidance to help staff find the support they need.

There are also a range of support offers such as coaching for managers, group support as well as a wellbeing toolkit which contains practical self-help exercises and an online wellbeing diary.

If you are a member of health and social care staff in the North East and North Cumbria and feel like you need some support or would like to find out more you can visit the ICS website.