Psychological therapies being offered by Department of Health to survivors of beach attack in Sousse and any relatives affected

Mental health experts are screening people who witnessed the terrorist attack in Sousse, Tunisia, last June to see if they require treatment for continuing distress.

The atrocity resulted in 38 deaths, including 30 Britons, while many more suffered gunshot wounds and other serious injuries.

The Department of Health is contacting dozens of bereaved families, survivors and others in England who witnessed the attack to determine whether they might benefit from psychological therapies.

A similar exercise will be conducted to reach any English nationals identified by police as having been caught up in the Paris attacks in November.

It is the first time such a “screen and treat” programme, which has a budget of £800,000, has been so widely publicised nationally, although mental health support was offered by the NHS after the 7/7 attacks in London in 2005.

The DH hopes that this will help identify others who may have been directly affected by the Sousse attacks. Questionnaires are available online.

Accompanying information says distress following traumatic events is very common, and for many people getting support from those around them, this will pass without the need for formal health treatment.

But it adds: “Some people may be able to function well for some time afterwards but may develop mental health problems later, sometimes much later. Others may be able to function, but know they are not feeling OK.”

The department is advising face-to-face assessments for children and young people, among whom signs of distress are often more difficult to identify.

There are separate questionnaires for adults who were in Sousse, adults who are family members of those injured or killed, and for under-18s who were in Sousse or are a relative of someone injured or killed.

Experts at Public Health England will assess the answers. Those who they believe would benefit from treatment will be contacted for further telephone assessment, while under-18s will be referred to a regional centre for face-to-face checks.

Those considered likely to benefit from mental health treatment will then be referred to the appropriate psychological therapy.

Alistair Burt, the minister for mental health, said: “Care for patients must include their mental as well as physical health. It is vital that those affected by the traumatic events in Tunisia receive the best mental health support available and this programme will make sure that nobody is suffering without the care they need.

“The work done will also inform the government on how best to respond in the event of any future incident.”

The DH said those who do not respond will get a number of reminders because it wants to give everybody the chance to benefit from the programme. The NHS in Scotland is to provide a similar programme, while the service in Wales is urging people to contact its NHS helpline or Veterans’ NHS Wales.

Clive Garner, the head of the international personal injury team at solicitors Irwin Mitchell, said: “We have helped to support many British victims of terrorist attacks both in the UK and abroad, but this is the first time we have seen such a coordinated effort to provide support of this nature by the Department of Health.

“The impact on innocent victims caught up in life-threatening and highly traumatic incidents like this can be severe and life changing. The effect of physical or psychological injury can take many years to come to terms with – and sadly some victims may never make a full recovery. We welcome this latest initiative to provide specialist treatment for those who are suffering.”

Organisers of a £2m programme after the London bombings found that there was sufficient evidence to anticipate substantial levels of unmet need for mental health care following terrorist incidents.

They initially contacted 910 adults, of whom 596 returned a screening questionnaire. More than half of these underwent further assessment and 304 were judged to be in need of treatment for psychological problems related to the bombings.

Some did not want treatment, leaving 278 people being referred for psychological therapy. Thirty opted for treatment near their homes, while 248 were referred to three centres specialising in post-traumatic stress.

Thirty-one of these patients did not start the treatment at all and another 28 dropped out or later refused treatment, leaving 189 to complete the course.