OUR CORE VALUES 

In March we celebrated our 200th birthday with a virtual tea party for staff and trustees. We are also celebrating the core values that underpin our work and which have remained unchanged since 1821. They are:

• Responsive - to the problems faced by seafarers and their families
• Pioneering - in our approach to treatment, medical practice and training
• Inclusive and non-discriminatory – in the treatment of seafarers and the provision of opportunities

Last time we looked in depth at inclusivity and non-discrimination. In this edition of the newsletter we take a closer look at what we mean by being ‘responsive’.

• In the 19th century the main diseases affecting seamen - typhus, cholera, smallpox, scurvy and tuberculosis - were all treated efficiently and successfully by the Society’s doctors. Many new treatments and approaches were introduced by the physicians and surgeons of the Seamen’s hospitals.

• With the support of the Society the London School of Tropical Medicine was established at the Albert Dock Hospital, not only to care for seafarers suffering from diseases but to train medical professionals and carry out important research.

• Patients at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases paid an amount they could afford based on their individual circumstances.

• In the 19th and 20th centuries the Dreadnought hospital was situated on the river Thames in Greenwich, where thousands of seamen came in on ships from all over the world. Sailors could be admitted quickly without the usual need for a letter of recommendation.
   

• This focus on speed saved many lives and today fast access to healthcare continues with the Society’s support of the Dreadnought Medical Service, a priority treatment service for seafarers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals.
   
• In the 19th century the Society also set up and ran dispensaries with outpatient facilities in East India Dock Road and Gravesend, locations that could be accessed easily by sailors entering the Port of London.

• In 1890 the Society opened its first branch hospital in the teeming Albert Docks where seamen and dock workers needed treatment for illness and injuries. The Albert Dock Hospital treated hundreds of seamen and dockworkers over the next 80 years.
   
• Today the SeaFit programme is continuing the Society’s tradition of taking healthcare directly to the place of need, by delivering services at the harbourside and in the heart of fishing communities.
   

• In 2016 the Society also began funding the online mental health and wellbeing service Big White Wall (now Togetherall) so that seafarers can access help and advice even when they are at sea. 

• The Society was founded because of the ‘problem’ of unemployed seamen in the Port of London following the Napoleonic Wars. The Society’s Samaritan Fund was set up in the late 19th century, using a gift of £740 from a benefactor, with the aim of providing clothing, rail fares and boat fares to seafarers in need.
   
• In 1948, after the Society’s hospitals were incorporated into the NHS, the fund became the Samaritan and Welfare Fund, to which King George VI agreed to pay an annual subscription.

• The amendment of the Society’s Act of Incorporation in 1958 allowed the SHS to focus more on welfare work and grant giving. In 2020 the Society awarded £327,000 to seafarers in need through 455 grants.
   
• In 1996, in a joint initiative with the CAB, the Society established the Seafarer’s Benefits and Advice Line, now SAIL, which provides seafarers with invaluable support, advice and information on benefits, debt, employment and other issues tailored to their individual circumstances.

Prestigious New Research Project with Yale University

SHS and Yale University are collaborating on a landmark study to determine the effectiveness of initiatives taken by shipping companies, charities and the wider maritime sector to keep seafarers healthy and safe. The study will be led by Martin Slade, Director of Research, Yale Occupational & Environmental Medicine and Director of Yale University Maritime Research Center.

This six-month study aims to review existing research and recommendations, identify current practices, determine their coverage across the industry and assess their perceived effectiveness.  Results of the study will be disseminated to the global seafarer community to encourage the adoption of best practice and improve seafarer health, safety and wellbeing.

Independent global charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation (the Foundation), which has a mission to engineer a safer world, is also working on the project to provide support and expertise in evidence collection with a specific focus on mental health and wellbeing.

The Foundation will be hosting two virtual round table meetings on Tuesday 29th June and Thursday 15th July, where shipping companies, policy makers and maritime welfare organisations can share their perspectives on seafarers’ mental health and wellbeing. Topics will include training, living conditions, interpersonal factors and work demands.

For more information about the study, email Sandra Welch or call 0739 299 8964 

For more information about the forthcoming round table events email Olivia Swift or call 0797 170 1196

Togetherall
28 seafarers accessed the service

Physiotherapy grants
30 seafarers accessed treatment:
13 MN and 17 fishers

SAIL
advised 540 clients and
raised £666,567

SHS Grants 
156 grants awarded,
totalling £85,859

“We received both the payments for the Gas and Electric and are extremely grateful. Please pass on our thanks.”

“The caseworker told us the good news of a kind donation to me and my family from you. I would like to say thank you so much!”

SHS is proud to be associated with the SeaFit Programme and all that it has achieved over the past two years. Through our partnership with The Fishermen’s Mission and Seafarers UK (now the Seafarers Charity) we have achieved tangible improvements in the health and wellbeing of fishers and their families and established a blue print for the delivery of health and wellbeing services to this hard to reach group.

At the same time the SeaFit brand has become established and trusted within the fishing community and is now recognised in fishing ports throughout the UK. We have also begun to influence health and wellbeing policy makers and service providers, and look forward to seeing the lessons learnt from the Programme translated into planning for future provision.

Here is a summary of what’s been achieved and what we’ve learnt.

Quayside services work best for fishers

Evidence from the SeaFit Programme shows that fishers are more likely to seek help to improve their health and wellbeing when services are taken to them at the quayside. Thanks to its holistic health and wellbeing approach, SeaFit has empowered fishers to change their behaviour and make positive lifestyle choices, as they realise the importance of looking after their own health and wellbeing.

Quantifiable improvements in health and wellbeing

The positive impact of the various projects associated with the Programme, from healthy lifestyle advice and support, to dental treatment and counselling, is unquestionable. Our health provider partners and the fishers themselves have highlighted clear-cut health benefits, with many fishers reporting quantifiable improvements in their health and wellbeing over the period of the Programme.

Foundations in place for cultural change

The SeaFit Programme has also begun to lay down a strong foundation for culture change among a hard to reach, predominantly male, workforce. Fishers and family members who received support are benefiting from better health and are encouraging their peers and fellow crew members to seek advice or treatment. It is hoped that this will in turn lead to more uninterrupted hours at sea and increased earning capacity, which is particularly important given the uncertainty arising from Brexit.

A healthier fishing fleet results in, less stress, fewer accidents, less time off, less financial hardship and a longer career at sea.

Reaching local communities

In the past two years SeaFit has delivered much-needed services to hundreds of fishers and their families through a range of interventions across several locations around the UK. They include:

• Healthy lifestyle advice and health checks
• Emergency dental treatment and advice
• Physiotherapy treatment and advice
• Mental health advice and support

In response to Covid SeaFit has adapted to:

• Deliver food parcels
• Facilitate access to vaccinations

During the Coronavirus pandemic SeaFit services had to be modified. Instead of face to face advice and treatment, we offered telephone and video advice and support and this was very well received. We also adapted the service to respond to local need and partnered with others to get public health messages out to the fishing community. We received requests from the NHS to use the SeaFit logo on social distancing posters at ports, as Seafit is a trusted brand; some harbour masters approached our Healthy Lifestyle Advisors to reinforce public health messaging around social distancing,

Covid testing and staying safe on the quayside; and the Programme was asked by the NHS to support the delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations for migrant fishers.

There are thought to be more 1200 migrant fishers in the UK. Many would be eligible for the vaccine but are not registered with a GP and are at risk of slipping through the vaccination net. Through the SeaFit programme SHS and The Fishermen’s Mission have been working closely with several NHS Health providers to make contact with this hard-to-reach group.

The SeaFit Programme has come to the end of the initial two year project which was funded by the Seafarers Charity (formerly Seafarers UK). The good news is that SHS and The Fishermen’s Mission are now jointly funding key aspects of the project until the end of 2021. This includes:

• Health Trainer – Bridlington
• Healthy Lifestyle Advisors – Newlyn and Peterhead
• Fairwinds Mental Health Counsellor - Newlyn
• Fishwell Mental Health Counsellor – Norfolk/Suffolk
• Physio treatment – UK wide