HEIW launches new mental health module for healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals can now access a ‘Mental Health during COVID-19’ online module. Launched by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) and written by Dr Mary Robathan, one of our GP Appraisers, the module provides food for thought on how the pandemic will affect patients with mental health issues and how to recognise new patients. It was released in time for mental health awareness week 2020.

There have been concerns from health care professionals about the decrease in patient contacts regarding non-COVID-19 related illness and the knock-on effect this outbreak may have on the general health of the population with chronic disease and acute presentations. The impact COVID-19 will have on the mental health of every person on the planet is huge and the potential increase in workload for primary care will be vast. This module promotes a proactive response actively looking for mental health issues within a normal consultation.

The module focuses on the psychological needs of patients and how they can be supported further as well as recognising the impact the pandemic will have had on health care professionals and the need for self-care.

Only time will reveal the true increase in mental health presentations and referrals as a result of the pandemic. This will be an evolving picture.

Dr Mary Robathan said “COVID-19 has brought so many new challenges to general practitioners with many more still to come. The impact of this pandemic on the nations mental health will be vast and ongoing. We have been warned about the ‘tsunami’ of mental health patients and we hope this module will help in someway to start to tackle the workload”. 

Professor Phil Matthews, Director of General Practice said: “We have continued to work with colleagues and partners across Wales, to provide our workforce with relevant timely learning resources. We’re proud of the suite of CPD e-learning modules, that our platform provides, and we encourage you to make use of them to ultimately support our patients in Wales”.

Find our more information on the new ‘Mental Health during COVID-19 online module’.