Partnership between mental health and primary care colleagues across Norfolk and Suffolk receives funding to deliver vital wellbeing support to NHS staff
A partnership between primary care organisations and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has secured £250,000 to deliver vital wellbeing and postvention support for NHS staff across Norfolk and Suffolk.
The funding has been awarded by NHS Charities Together, with support from NHS England, as part of the £11 million Workforce Wellbeing Programme – including a £5 million contribution from NHS England – and is one of 61 ambitious projects across England to receive funding since the programme launched in 2024.
The proposal was developed by primary care partners and brought forward in collaboration with NSFT and system colleagues, recognising shared challenges and opportunities to strengthen wellbeing support for staff working in both mental health services and primary care.
The funding will be used to support the mental wellbeing of staff, particularly those affected by sudden death, suicide or other traumatic experiences, and ensuring that help is accessible, compassionate and stigma free.
The project will be delivered through a system-wide partnership involving NSFT, Suffolk Local Medical Committee, Suffolk GP Federation, Norfolk and Waveney Local Medical Committee, the Training Hub, and NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board (ICB).
The programme will be co-produced with staff across primary care and mental health services to ensure support is inclusive, relevant and sustainable. It will also promote the message “It’s OK Not To Be OK” to help normalise help‑seeking and reduce stigma across the workforce.
Cath Byford, Chief Patient Experience Officer and Deputy CEO at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This partnership reflects the strength of collaboration across Norfolk and Suffolk’s health system. Primary care colleagues identified the need for a more joined-up approach to wellbeing and postvention support, and we are pleased to be working alongside them and with our staff to help turn that vision into reality. By combining expertise across mental health services and primary care, we can create support that is compassionate, equitable and responsive to the real challenges staff face every day.”
Dr David Cargill, Training Hub clinical lead and an ICB primary care partner member, said: “Staff working in primary care and mental health services face some of the most intense pressures anywhere in the NHS. This collaborative project recognises that those challenges do not sit within organisational boundaries and that our response must be system-wide.
“By working together across primary care, mental health services and the ICB, we are creating a co-produced wellbeing and postvention hub that responds quickly to critical incidents while also strengthening longer‑term wellbeing support. This is the first time Norfolk and Suffolk will have a shared, system-wide approach of this kind.”
Ellie Orton, CEO of NHS Charities Together, said: “We’re proud to be supporting NHS charities and their partners with funding that has the potential to make a real difference for hardworking NHS staff, helping to reduce the mental and physical toll of working in such a challenging environment.”
Evaluation and learning from the project will be shared across partners and used to inform future wellbeing initiatives, ensuring the programme is sustainable and leaves a lasting, system-wide legacy for the workforce across Norfolk and Suffolk.