A Bucks MP has labelled comments by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ‘unfair’ after she raised the issue of mental health support for healthcare workers in the House of Commons.
Last week, Bucks Radio reported that the MP for Chesham and Amersham, Sarah Green, asked Sajid Javid what his department is doing to protect the mental health of GPs and NHS workers following a damning survey by the Royal College of Physicians revealing that one in five doctors currently feel overwhelmed.
The survey was in the context of the recent surge of cases due to the Omicron wave of Covid-19 and specifically referenced the last three weeks.
In response to Ms. Green’s question, the Secretary of State said: “The support that we've provided through the Winter Access Fund is there, the £250 million is there to support GP surgeries across the country.”
However, research by Bucks Radio has since uncovered that funding plans for the Winter Access Fund were submitted no later than 28th October last year – four weeks before anyone in the world had even heard of the Omicron variant.
Liberal Democrat, Sarah Green subsequently commented: “Plans for the Winter Access Fund were submitted at a time when daily cases remained well below 50,000. We didn’t know that this figure would grow to over 200,000 in the following months, nor did we know that staff sickness absences would rocket, putting an additional strain on an already over-burdened workforce.
“It is unfair for the Government to suggest that the Winter Access Fund is intended to address the challenges uncovered in the survey undertaken by the Royal College of Physicians in the last month.”
Bucks Radio has contacted Mr Javid’s office for a statement but had not received a response at the time of going to press.
Sarah Green added: “The Government should focus on supporting doctors through the stress and exhaustion they’re facing today, particularly as they prepare to face the consequences of the end of plan B restrictions.”
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