Support for healthcare staff in Wales

Canopi: mental health support for NHS and social care staff

Canopi is a free and confidential mental health support service for NHS and social care staff in Wales. You must be 18 or over. Self-refer through the online form on the Canopi website. Canopi emails you within one working day, asks you to complete a short wellbeing questionnaire, and then sends a link to book a doctor advisor appointment.

Canopi announced a pause on therapy referrals, including CBT, from 21 September 2026. Self-referrals and doctor advisor appointments continue, and people recommended for therapy can join a holding list. You generally cannot self-refer while you are in psychological treatment elsewhere, or within 3 years of finishing a course of therapy with Canopi. Canopi is not an emergency service.

Profession bodies add further help. Pharmacists, trainees and pharmacy students can contact Pharmacist Support, doctors can use BMA wellbeing services, and nurses can use RCN member support. NHS Practitioner Health serves NHS staff in England and does not list staff in Wales in its eligibility.

Urgent help numbers in Wales

Call 999 or go to A&E if a life is at risk. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and press 2 to speak to a mental health worker in your area. The service runs 24 hours a day, every day, for all ages, and is free from landlines and mobiles, even with no credit. The CALL Mental Health Listening Line answers on 0800 132 737 at any hour. Samaritans answer on 116 123. See our urgent help page.

Employment advice in Wales

Employment law in Wales follows the law for England and Wales. Acas gives free, impartial advice on 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and offers services in Welsh on request. You must notify Acas for early conciliation before most tribunal claims. Most claims about a problem on or after 1 October 2026 have a limit of six months less one day, and earlier problems keep three months less one day. Conciliation pauses the clock. See tribunal deadlines.

Advicelink Cymru, run by Citizens Advice with Welsh Government funding, gives free advice to people living in Wales on employment, discrimination, benefits, debt and housing. Call 0800 702 2020, Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. Pharmacists can also get defence and employment support from the Pharmacists' Defence Association.

Speaking up in NHS Wales

The Welsh Government and NHS Wales announced the Speaking Up Safely framework on 20 September 2023. The framework builds on existing procedures to give a consistent approach across Wales. The framework sets out duties for NHS Wales organisations, boards, managers and individual staff, and aims to make sure concerns are taken seriously and heard fairly. Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are an England arrangement, so look for your health board's speaking up policy instead.

For independent whistleblowing advice, call Protect on 020 3117 2520. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 applies in Wales. See whistleblowing in healthcare and raising concerns.

Regulators for staff working in Wales

• GPhC: pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain, including Wales.
• GMC, NMC, GDC and HCPC: doctors, nurses and midwives, dental professionals and allied health professions across the UK.
• Healthcare Inspectorate Wales: inspects NHS and independent healthcare services in Wales.
• HSE: workplace health and safety in Great Britain, including the Management Standards for work stress.

How Wales differs from England

Staff in Wales use Canopi rather than NHS Practitioner Health, NHS 111 Wales press 2 rather than NHS 111 option 2, and the Speaking Up Safely framework rather than Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. Employment law and the GPhC apply in the same way as in England. Compare England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, or read coverage across the UK.