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The Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) has announced that the new Vet Helpline (which is for both vets and nurses), which will now be answered by a live person 24 hours a day, has launched in time for Christmas - an especially difficult time for many people.
The new service runs on a new telephone number: 0303 040 2551. Add it to your address book now, if not for yourself, in case you need to pass on the information to a colleague who needs help.
The new Vet Helpline has been made possible with support from the new RCVS joint initiative “Mind Matters”
Rosie Allister, Chair of Vet Helpline said: “It’s so important that people who take the brave and positive step to seek help by calling Vet Helpline are able to connect with one of our trained volunteers as quickly as possible. We know many are deterred by reaching a voicemail, so connecting to a human being is vitally important and can have an important positive impact. We are so grateful for this vote of confidence in Vet Helpline from the Mind Matters initiative.
"Everyone involved in running Vet Helpline is a volunteer and the team is so incredibly passionate and keen to see the service continually improve. The launch of our confidential e-mail service last year, which hides all email addresses (accessible via www.vetlife.org.uk), was a huge positive step forward and now this evolution to live answering is another. We are adamant that although the phone number is changing, the non-judgmental, completely confidential and empathetic support that we offer will not."
As one of the four arms of support offered by the VBF, Vet Helpline sits alongside services offering financial support, help with mental health conditions, including drug and alcohol addiction, and a library of resources aimed at promoting well-being on the Vetlife website - www.vetlife.org.uk.
The Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) has announced the retirement of its President Dr. Lydia Brown, who had served the maximum of nine years as a trustee and member of the VBF Board.
Lydia became a director of the VBF following the merger of the Fund with the Vet Helpline (VHL) and the Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme (VSHSP) in January 2005.
A past-president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and former chairman of the RCVS Trust, Lydia was a driving force behind the establishment of the VSHSP in 1999. This support programme was developed in response to the genuine need for a confidential service to treat veterinary surgeons with a wide variety of addictive conditions. Since then she has been involved in the expansion of the Helpline service from a telephone service to an increasingly-widely used email service.
The charity says that it is as a result of Lydia's thoroughness, sympathy and understanding, that very many veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses have been helped to recover from many forms of addictive conditions and health problems.
The Veterinary Benevolent Fund has launched a new campaign to get a sticker displaying the organisations helpline telephone number for veterinary professionals in every practice.
The charity has produced a video which explains why.
Do you have a VBF sticker displayed in your practice? If not, you can order one today. Visit www.vetlife.org.uk
The Veterinary Benevolent Fund has launched a short film about a veterinary surgeon's experience of severe depression and her inspiring recovery.
The charity says it hopes the film, published on the Vetlife website today, will encourage the veterinary profession to talk more openly about stress and depression in the workplace and will motivate veterinary employers to adopt best practice in supporting their staff's mental health.
Nick Short, the VBF Director responsible for the development of the Vetlife website, said: "We are so grateful to the veterinary surgeon concerned for having the courage to share her story and for her insights into what could be done to make recovery easier for other vets. We were delighted to hear that she felt she was treated well and got the help she needed from the Veterinary Benevolent Fund and the Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme.
"Recent press reports have estimated that the cost to the UK economy of stress, depression and suicide is £26 billion per year. We know that the profession has a high incidence of these problems, so it follows that depressive illness must have an alarming economic effect on it. This means it is essential to invest in improving awareness and support.
"The VBF wants to produce more web videos on issues that veterinary surgeons, students or nurses commonly encounter such as debt, addiction, professional conduct or employment problems. However, we need to secure additional sponsorship in order to fund this work - each 5 minute video will cost about £2,500 to produce. If you or your organization would be interested in supporting this work, please contact the VBF office at 7 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NQ, telephone 020 7908 6385 or email info@vetlife.org.uk. Donations can also be made online at www.justgiving.com/VBF"
Rory O'Connor, National Co-ordinator at the Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme said: "Many of us will have mental health problems at some point in our lives but most can make a full return to work with the right support. As highlighted in the film, it is really helpful if employers are willing to explore adjustments to working conditions or to the working environment such as flexible working hours or changes to working responsibilities. I am always available to help both employers and employees with these kinds of discussions and we are currently developing content on mental health support in the workplace for the Vetlife website. All advice is completely confidential."
The film was made by John Somers and Ben Sheriff at the University of Exeter using an actress to speak the words of the veterinary surgeon.