Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced today that front line emergency workers will get access to tailored mental health resources, following the extension of a wellbeing programme.
The Scottish Government is committing £138,000 of funding for the Lifelines Scotland initiative to cover Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
This will provide online information and resources for responders, their friends and family as well as training courses on wellbeing and resources to help organisations embed wellbeing in the workplace.
Speaking on behalf of the emergency services, Linda Douglas, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at the Scottish Ambulance Service, said:
“Tens of thousands of people work for Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service, providing vital services to our communities, saving lives and making a real difference every day.
“However, their jobs can be physically, emotionally and psychologically demanding. Each of the emergency services take the mental health and wellbeing of their staff extremely seriously, and offer staff access to a range of support services and information.
“We all welcome the extension of the Lifelines Scotland initiative to frontline staff as this funding will enable us to boost the support available to emergency responders.”
Announcing the extension during a visit to Springburn Ambulance Station in Glasgow, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said:
“Our emergency services work hard to keep people across Scotland safe every day and like all our NHS staff, their welfare is crucially important. They often face challenging and dangerous situations, which can have an impact on mental wellbeing.
“Extending the Lifelines Scotland programme will support the resilience and welfareof front lineresponder staff in blue light services across the country, to ensure they feelsupported, informed and valued.”