Coronavirus staff guidance University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Last updated: 28 October 2021 at 17:45

We now have a number of employees trained in Psychological First Aid (PFA) across the Birmingham and Solihull organisations. This includes all of the five NHS Trusts, the CCG, the two Local Authorities and in primary care and adult social care. These individuals are not just based in clinical areas but also are working non-clinically too.

PFA is a technique for assisting people in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic incident or disaster. PFA is designed to reduce the occurrence of post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI; an injury to one’s psyche that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event). The basic principle of PFA is that, in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic event, support from a trained compassionate individual may aid in long-term recovery. PFA is not focused on any mental health diagnosis and works to prevent change from occurring.

We are working to build a framework and database of PFA trained staff, that you will be able to access independently.

In the meantime, if you would like to access this support and speak to a UHB PFA trained staff and don’t know who the PFA trained staff is in your team or department, email Paul Firth or the Inclusion Team:

Email: Paul.Firth@nhs.net
Email: Inclusion@uhb.nhs.uk