NHS looking to recruit scores of trauma specialists for Grenfell Tower work

Widespread trauma caused by the Grenfell Tower fire has prompted an NHS recruiting drive for mental health professionals to keep up with demand.

More than 50 vacancies for the Grenfell Tower Trauma Service are being advertised, seeking those experienced in working with bereavement and post traumatic stress disorder.

Hundreds have been emotionally afflicted by the west London inferno, which left at least 80 dead.

The Central and North West London Foundation Trust, which is running the service, said 600 people from the neighbourhood, including 100 children, had so far been referred to mental health specialists.

This includes those who lost loved ones in the blaze or were reduced to destitution after fleeing their burning homes.

An advert for the newly established clinical service says: “The team is being set up to provide the largest service of its sort in the UK offering screening and treatment to a community who have been adversely impacted by the fire.

“We anticipate that over the next months and years there will be significant numbers of people who will require specialist support and treatment to successfully overcome the negative psychological consequences of the fire.”

It is understood the roles could also see new staff deployed in a mass door-knocking operation to evaluate the needs of the community, which has seen professionals visit 2,200 addresses since the fire.

_{Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2017, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) David Mirzoeff / PA Wire.}