We know life is stressful right now. We are here for you.
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) have launched a new support service in response to the pandemic, specifically for people who work in healthcare, social care, the voluntary sector or not-for-profit sector.

If you work in these areas in Essex or Hertfordshire and need someone to talk to, we are here for you. You can also talk to us if you work in an Essex or Hertfordshire organisation, but your work base is elsewhere.

Call us 24/7 to confidentially talk through any problems you’re facing, whatever they may be, on 0344 257 3960. Alternatively, you can email us at hereforyou@nhs.net. This email address is monitored from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

The pandemic has affected us all in different ways, some of us are juggling working from home with caring responsibilities, some are feeling overwhelmed at work or at home, some are stressed because of financial problems, some may be anxious every time they hear an update on the news, some are feeling the strain of isolation and some may be struggling to mentally recover from COVID-19 or the loss of a loved one. Some of us may just feel down or a bit less bright, but we aren’t sure why.

Here for you has been set up to support all workers, clinical and non-clinical, across health and social care, primary care and voluntary services, whether you work directly with patients or not. So, if you work within the NHS, a GP practice, in a care home, in adult or children’s social care or in the voluntary sector, you can call us.

Support services are already in place for many of our staff through employee assistance programmes and occupational health, as well as mental health first aiders in many of our organisations. Here for you is an overarching service which prioritises staff needs, signposts you to the right help at the right time, provides a priority referral if needed and helps rebuild our resilience levels.

Here for you is run by experts in the mental health field and confidentiality is paramount. Rest assured you can call the line in complete confidence to talk through your worries. Whether you need to talk to somebody, seek advice on where to find specific resources, receive counselling, attend a group session or organise a team debrief from a particular situation, we are here for you.