Sharon,
I'm one of the H&S professionals interloping on this forum. I can assure you that we are also in much the same position and are approached often to justify the support that you and your colleaguegs give.
I am heavily involved in the health and wellbeing agenda at work and have a deep interest in occupational stress, bullying and harrassment. human factors / human error etc.
I am clear in my own mind that there is a solid business case for psychosocial support services in the workplace. Presenteeism is an increasing issue in the UK and where I work. Quite simply, without the ability to catch those that have been failed by the workplace policies (however good they may be) before they convert into stress related sickness absence, we would be looking at a much higher incidence of stress-related absence overall. Yes, ideally it should never get that far but with the current ecconomic pressures, everyone is being pressed to work that bit harder for that bit less.
The long and short of it is, catch them early, support them and turn them round. Much cheaper than the average 21 working days absence for a new stress related absence in the UK. And yes, it would be nice if the NHS could provide the service but I would argue that the employer has the duty of care, may have contributed to the stress and anxiety so should pick up the tab. As I said, it is still cheaper in the long run.
Have a good weekend,
Richard.
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From: [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of sharon naylor [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 22 January 2011 12:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH]
Excuse the ramble - but I am having a ponder today (multi tasking while loading the washing machine etc) about how we justify the services we offer. My thoughts today are centred around counselling/CBT other psychotherapeutic support. The working environment I work within is "stressful" , and there is a higher than average risk of assault etc. Generally we provide services for work related issues, also when issues are causing absence, decreased performance at work etc. However - there is a big drive on to reduce absence in the public sector - our absence rates are really low , may be because people are too scared to have time off unless there are compelling reasons why as they know that there is a robust management strategy. In addition we are having to cut costs. I know that I am going to have to be fairly stringent about what i provide and when - there is no doubt in my mind that GP`s will not be in a position to get "treatment" in a timely manner (if at ll) from community mental health teams because of the challanges they face.
There are a lot of people at the moment who are frankly really struggling with life and are becoming fairly desperate for some support , they end up in my office in varying states of distress and really not sure what to do- not necessarily work related, (eg) concerns about the future, job security, financial issues , relationship issues, marital breakdown, problems with errant teenagers, elderly dependants etc. I am quite vocal within this forum about OH not being an "all things to all men" service, I am well aware of organisations out there that are specific in the support they can provide, I do have access to all sorts of services but a dwindling budget.
I am becoming concerned quite frankly about how such people are going to be supported/managed. I am fairly certain in my own head that if people arent supported then there is the potential for escalation into clinical illness eg depression, potential absence which will irritate management, decreased performance (which in my world can have all sorts of knock on effects on H&S, security) . However from a business perspective I am also not sure about how and why employers should burden the resource implications for providing support, do get fed up with the occasional inability from some individuals about taking personal responsibility for their own issues, and am fairly clear that unless i want to work 25 hours a day I just cant do it. I think I need to re-examine our policies and be very clear about what we can and cant do, for whom and why. However in tandem with that do not want to sound like the Atilla the Hun of the OH world
Any comments from learned colleaugues, esp those working within police/fire and rescue or similar?
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