Giving healthcare heroes a breather
We are delighted to announce that the next Cuttsy Cares donation will go to the Healthcare Workers' Foundation, formerly known as HEROES. The charity was set up in 2020 in response to the devasting impact the COVID-19 pandemic had, and continues to have, on healthcare workers in the NHS. It was set up by a group of medics who understood all too well the mental and physical toll the crisis took on all healthcare professionals. The charity provides everything from childcare costs to those who cannot afford it, to funding staff wellbeing rooms in hospitals and therapy sessions.
The charity was nominated by our Communications Strategy Lead, Elly Aylwin-Foster who stated it was important for her to see that health workers are supported. Elly has experienced a lifetime of care from the NHS as a cystic fibrosis and diabetes patient and is acutely aware of the challenges faced by frontline health workers.
“I feel as passionately about advocating for better working conditions for HCPs as I do better patient care, but it’s the former that feels like it’s getting worse. The nursing and doctor staffing crisis hasn’t gone away since the pandemic, in fact it has deteriorated. My specialist nurses have been understaffed for several years, and have had to adapt to caring for greater numbers of patients in new ways.”
While the heroism of health care professionals facing these unprecedented conditions is undisputed, the picture is made all the starker by the fact that nearly half of frontline clinical staff reported PTSD, depression or anxiety in the last year. According to a report from the Health and Social Care Committee from May 2021, 92% of trusts told NHS providers they had concerns about “staff wellbeing, stress and burnout following the pandemic”. It is, therefore, no surprise that NHS workers are 50% more likely than the general working population to report very high levels of workplace related stress.
“On behalf of everyone at the Healthcare Workers’ Foundation (HWF), we are absolutely delighted to be awarded a £1,500 donation from Cuttsy Cares. This generous donation will not only enable us to provide vital wellbeing and welfare services to our amazing healthcare workers, but it will also raise invaluable awareness of the HWF. We could not be more grateful to Cuttsy+Cuttsy and the team at Cuttsy Cares for their support. Thank you for helping us be there for healthcare workers across the UK.” - Rosie Cumella, Fundraising Manger- Individual Giving, Community & Events
The Cuttsy Cares donation to Healthcare Worker’s Foundation will go to helping fund counselling sessions and the refitting of staff breakrooms.
You can see a breakdown of what the charity has delivered so far here.
