Health Assured, which provides employee assistance programs for more than 70,000 companies, is forecasting a 16% increase in wellbeing referrals next year. It has boosted its staff 76% in the last three years to supply more clinical experts who provide services like counseling and referrals for workers who have issues.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is concerned about a surge in long-term sickness among those of working age, which is both increasing costs in the National Health Service and leaving the labor market short of people to fill jobs. That’s in turn driving up wages and feeding inflation, putting pressure on the Bank of England to keep raising interest rates.
The shortfall in NHS capacity is putting a strain on EAP providers that companies increasingly rely on. Health Assured has increased its trauma-trained network of practitioners by almost 20% in the last year to cope with demand from companies desperate for their services. The Department for Work and Pensions has hinted that employers must take more responsibility for the problem too as office workers increasingly face burnout. The reforms include allowing mentally ill staff to work from home more and encouraging employers to expand their occupational health offer.
Health Assured is increasingly seeing referrals from patients who have been sent by their doctors, as a result, according to Frost. It’s had to increase salaries to attract more staff, she added, and has also pre-empted a graduate program to add to its counseling fleet for next year.
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