The boss of a Bury St Edmunds workplace health firm has welcomed a new mental health study commissioned by the prime minister, but warned that the complete picture may be even worse than what it describes.
Prime minster Theresa May was in East Anglia on Thursday, October 2, to mark the launch of a national programme of mental health support, which follows the completion of a major study into how many thousands of people lose their employment through mental health issues.
It shows around 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem will have to leave their job each year at a cost to the economy of up to £99bn a year, and a cost to UK employers of around £30bn annually.
RehabWorks, a specialist in mental health in the workplace, says it has been leading the way for many years in providing evidence-based mental health care for business customers and their employees.
Services range in nature from awareness training for employees and managers, critical incident support and crisis management, and a full spectrum of treatments for common mental health issues.
Chief executive Derrick Farrell said their experience reflects the report’s dire statistics – but said there were many more thousands who “suffer in silence” with mental health issues, because of the taboo and prejudice that surround this significant and growing issue.
“Mental Health is becoming a more prominent business issue, and, with the likely introduction of a Mental Health and Wellbeing check by the HSE, this will only increase,” he said.
“It is also a major concern for the public sector, and particularly our emergency services, where traumatic situations form a core element to most employee’s normal days.”
RehabWorks work with a broad spectrum of clients, which range from small SMEs to large employers, such as John Lewis Partnership, to NHS trusts and other large public sector bodies.
“We provide the expertise needed to educate, prevent, treat and most importantly to prevent re-occurrence for all common mental health issues,” said Mr Farrell. “It is important for employers and managers to know that there are solutions out there and usually they are not as complex or complicated as you would imagine.”
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