Mental health and exercise

Physical health problems can often affect your mental health. The mind can’t function unless your body is working properly and the state of your mind affects your body. To work properly, your body needs regular exercise

Physical activity has many benefits, not only to you physical wellbeing but also for your mental well being.

Exercise can help in the treatment and prevention of many illnesses including Type II diabetes and osteoporosis. It also helps reduce the likelihood of contracting some cancers and can improve the immune system as well as lessening the likelihood of developing problems with memory and dementia.

Remember - Any exercise is better than none but don’t overdo it.  Build more physical activity into your life gradually, and remember to enjoy yourself.

Richmond and Barnes Hospitals Redevelopment

As part of the Trust's Integrated Programme we are investing to develop new and refurbished facilities in the borough of Richmond 

The Richmond Royal and Barnes Hospital sites have been underused for a number of years, and their condition and design means they are unsuitable for modern mental health services.

Due to the listed status of the Richmond Royal site and the age of the buildings on both sites, it was not possible to create environments to suitably meet modern mental health care standards for our patients and deliver a good working environment for our staff. As a result, the Trust has progressed disposal and re-development plans for each site.

Richmond Royal

The Trust plan to continue to deliver Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) outpatient services from the site of the former Richmond Royal Hospital, following the completion of refubishment works later in 2023.

Our timeline so far:

• In December 2015, the Richmond Royal site was declared surplus in order to raise the funds needed to support wider investment in the development of new mental health facilities for South West London.
• As a result, the site was placed on the market in January 2017 and sold in March 2018. We are retaining a presence at Richmond Royal and intend to continue to provide high quality services from the site. Services and staff levels within the borough of Richmond will not be reduced as a result of the estates work.
• Building works are progressing on a new 500m2 healthcare facility at Richmond Royal. To ensure this does not disrupt delivery of care, some services were temporarily relocated to Barnes Hospital in 2019, with others relocated to the Maddison Clinic in Teddington.
• Works are ongoing and upon completion we will be relocating* Richmond CAMHS to Richmond Royal in autumn 2023. 

*See further information below on the relocation of Richmond CAMHS from Barnes Hospital to Livingston House in late winter 2023 (to faciliate construction works at Barnes Hospital) prior to its move to the newly refurbihsed facility at Richmond Royal in autumn 2022 

Barnes Hospital 

Inpatient services have not been provided at Barnes Hospital since 2013. The site is underused and its condition and design make it unsuitable for developing modern mental health inpatient care. 

The Trust is retaining part of the site and this will be used to continue to deliver the existing adult outpatient services at Barnes Hospital.

In all, the transfromation represents an £11m investment in mental health services as Barnes becomes part of a new mixed-use community alongside housing and a new school, which is being developed by LocatEd, an arms length body of the the Department for Education.

Our timeline so far: 

• Following an initial stage of marketing to inform our options during 2017, the Trust began working to develop a vision for the site. Public consultations for a new planning application were held in November and December 2017. The events were well attended and following feedback from the public, the plans were revised and the Trust held further public exhibitions in September 2018.
• Alongside the planning application, the Trust progressed its plans for disposing of surplus parts of the site in order to provide funding for wider estate regenrations and in March 2019 the Trust sold half of the Barnes Hospital site to a residential developer.
• The Trust had outline planning permission approved at Committee in September 2020 for a new mixed-use development comprising a health centre and a Social and Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) School, supporting both education and mental health needs for the community. 
• The Trust continued to work with staff, patients and the community to refine and develop site plans and specific designs for the healthcare facility over 2021 and into 2022 
• In November 2022 the Trust and its partners held a public consultation on the final plans for the halthcare facility and the school providing an opportunity for the community to share their feedback ahead of the final planning application. The consultation website can be accessed here and the Statement of Community Engagement can be downloaded here. 
• Pending final planning approval and Government sign-off works are scheduled to commence in early spring 2023 for delivery in late spring 2024. 

We continue to work closely with patients, staff, our partners and our wider community as this exciting vision for Barnes Hospital progresses. 

Temporary relocations to Livingston House 

Pending final approvals, early works and construction are due to get underway at Barnes Hospital from early spring 2023, taking approximately 15 months.

All services will be maintained during this time, and we will be working to ensure minimal disruption for patients, service users and staff throughout the process.

For the duration of this construction period, all teams currently based at Barnes will relocate into temporary accommodation at Livingstone House in Teddington, approximately five miles away from the current site.

The new address will be:

Livingstone House
2-6 Queens Road
Teddington
TW11 0LB

The relocation is planned 14-15 April meaning that from Monday 17 April 2023, all appointment currently held at Barnes will take place in Livingston House for patients under the care of the following teams:

• Richmond Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)*
• Richmond Recovery and Support Team
• Richmond Personality Disorder Intensive Treatment Team
• Richmond Adult ADHD
• Richmond Memory Assessment Service
• Richmond Older People’s Care Home Liaison Service
• Richmond Older People’s Intensive Community Support Team
• Richmond Older Peoples Recovery and Support Team
• Richmond Depot Clinic
• Richmond Clozapine Clinic

As usual, all appointment locations will be clearly marked on appointment letters shared by the team providing patients’ care so these should continue to be used as a point of reference.

Moving back to Richmond Royal and Barnes 

In autumn 2023, Richmond CAMHS will move back to site of the former Richmond Royal Hospital once the refurbishment works are finished. Then around spring 2024 all adult outpatient teams temporarily located at Livingston House will move back to the new Barnes Hospital. 

This will complete our journey to develop new and refurbished facilities for Richmond, delivering brand new environments for our staff and patients and supporting high quality mental healthcare for our community.

Additional Information

If you would like additional information regarding the work taking place in Richmond borough or the temporary relocations then please email EstateModernisation@swlstg.nhs.uk. 

Staff benefits

We understand that a healthy work life balance is important, which means that we offer a range of excellent benefits when joining the Trust.

Pay, pensions and leave:

• Pay - Most NHS salaries are determined by Agenda for Change bands, and these can be found on the Department of Health website or visit NHS Employers website. When you commence your role with us, we do a detailed salary review in line with Agenda for Change terms and conditions to ensure you are starting at the correct level of pay.

• Advanced pay – The Trust has partnered with Hastee Pay, which means that you can receive up to 50% of your salary early.

• Generous pension - All contracted NHS staff can become members of the NHS pension scheme. This excellent package of pension benefits is fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the government. This means an employer contribution of 20.5% of your annual salary into your pension. Your pension contributions will be depending on your salary and further information on the NHS pension scheme can be found here: Promoting the value of the NHS Pension Scheme videos and presentation | NHS Employers
• Leave – Under Agenda for Change, your annual leave will be depending on your length of service.

In addition to the above, you receive 8 (eight) days public holiday, as well as the chance to apply for special leave and career breaks. We also provide you with support to undertake volunteering activities.

General benefits:

Our range of benefits has been created to help you get the most out of working with us:

Everyday discounts via the NHS discount schemes - As an employee of the Trust you will have access to discounts from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

• Travel benefits 
• Car Lease scheme via Knowles at discounted rate
• Season ticket Loan up to £7,000 with zero interest rates
• Park your car at our Trust all day every day for £20 per month
• Get a bicycle and accessories with value up to £5000 with up to 39% discount

Family friendly benefits – We offer a range of comprehensive family friendly benefits to ensure you are able to spend time with your loved ones. These include:

• Maternity Leave
• Paternity Leave
• Bereavement/Compassionate Leave
• Adoption Leave
• Parental Leave
• Career Leave

Work life balance– Agile and Flexible working. We recognise the importance of helping you manage your work life balance and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working, job sharing, term-time working, compressed hours and working from home. Additionally, wet offer an agile working environment that empowers staff to build flexibility into their day-to-day, supporting work-life balance. This includes the option of some home working; arrangements vary for each team and are subject to agreement with service managers.

Looking after your health - We offer lots of support for staff to help you look after your health, ranging from support for staff who want to stop smoking and free annual flu vaccinations to discounts at local leisure centres and discounted membership at the gyms at St George's Hospital, Fitness First and Tolworth Recreation Centre. Additionally, we offer:

• Employee Assistance Programme
• Dedicated Occupational Health service
• Fast-track Physiotherapy services
• Guardian service
• Spiritual and Pastoral Care
• Free flu vaccination each year
• Counselling and support services

Eye examinations - Staff who use a computer on a regular basis as an essential part of their work are entitled to a refund for the cost of an eye test. Where staff members require glasses or contact lenses for screen-based work the Trust will also refund the cost of standard glasses with basic lenses, up to a maximum of £55. Discounts are offered at Spec Savers and Vision Express.

Staff restaurants - With staff restaurants at both Springfield Hospital and Tolworth Hospital we also operate a virtual deli for those who are short on time and want to avoid the queues. We also have many vending machines offering a range of sandwiches, crisps, confectionery and Costa Coffee.

There are also social clubs which you can join, including the Trust running club. Although members have changed over this time, there is still a hard-core of members who joined at the inception and still turnout regularly to run for an hour on a Tuesday evening. pdf Find out more about the running club (174 KB) .