Centre for Mental Health

A new report by the Work Foundation confirms that 'sickness presence' is something employers should take seriously, with a small survey showing that over a 4-week period 45% of employees self-reported one or more days of sickness presence, compared with 18% reporting one or more days of sickness absence. (See also their blog post on the subject.)

Citing the Sainsbury Centre's Mental Health at Work, the report notes the high estimated costs of ill health at work, and supplies important UK data that employers can use to begin get to grips with ‘sickness presence’ in their own businesses.

Sainsbury Centre would welcome further research into this important issue, to help employers create workplaces that both benefit employees for whom work is an important part of recovery from mental illness and can respond appropriately to employees experiencing mental distress at work.

The NHS Confederation has produced a guide to mental health and employment. This Briefing outlines the key themes from recently launched government policies in this field and sets out actions for the NHS, as both an employer and service provider.

On the 6 April 2010 the sick note will change and become the fit note.

Evidence shows that work is generally good for your health and that often going back to work can actually aid a person’s recovery. The new fit note can help. Doctors will be able to advise people who are on sick leave for over 7 days on whether, with extra support from their employer, they could return to work earlier.

For more information, visit the DWP website.

This is the new cross-government national mental health and employment strategy. It addresses wellbeing at work for everyone and better employment outcomes for people with mental health conditions, both in and out of work.

This practical framework sets out a series of commitments from government and what it expects from health professionals, employers, organisations and individuals.

It identifies 6 key areas for action:

• Changing attitudes to mental health
• Improving health and wellbeing at work
• Early intervention
• Tailoring support (individualised) in and out of work
• Building resilience from early years
• Coordinating action across government

A companion guide to the strategy is available from SHIFT.

This is an independent review of services, led by Rachel Perkins of South West London and St. George’s Mental Health Trust and supported by Paul Farmer of Mind, and Paul Litchfield at BT.

These key recommendations for action can be summarised under 3 main headings:

1. Make low-cost changes to existing services quickly through better joined-up working of frontline health and work staff and improving welfare-to-work services
2. Implement IPS in a UK context by embedding employment specialists in all mental health/social care teams, reforming Access to Work and making internships possible for people who have been long-term out of work and allowing a gradual build-up of hours
3. Monitor outcomes and drive change: agree definitions of employment and mental health and ensure routine monitoring of employment and mental health condition across the Department for Work and Pensions and health/social services. Performance indicators should require a year-on-year decrease in gap between the general employment rate and that of people with a mental health condition

This document forms part of the Government’s response to the Perkins Review (Realising Ambitions). Focused specifically on people in touch with secondary mental health services, this document applies only to England and is the product of the Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement (PSA16).

Work, Recovery and Inclusion endorses the recommendations of the Perkins review for a more 'joined-up' approach to service delivery across DWP and health and social care services. It commits the Government to improving the employment chances of people in touch with secondary services, with the long-term vision being to see a large increase in the number of people in employment by 2025.

The plan covers supporting people to build skills to compete for jobs, enabling people to get jobs, and supporting employers and employees to keep people in work. The plan will be delivered on a local scale by a 'broad spectrum of providers' and the new Mental Health Coordinators in Jobcentre Plus form part of the Government's commitment to strengthening partnerships at a local level.

NICE has produced guidance for employers on promoting mental wellbeing through productive and healthy working conditions. The guidance aims to help reduce the estimated 13.7 million working days lost each year due to work-related mental health conditions.

Recommendations for employers include:

• Promote a culture of participation, equality and fairness.
• Create an awareness and understanding of mental wellbeing and reduce the potential for discrimination and stigma.
• Ensure systems are in place for assessing and monitoring the mental wellbeing of employees.
• If practical, provide employees with opportunities for flexible working according to their needs and aspirations in both their personal and working lives.
• Strengthen the role of line managers in promoting the mental wellbeing of employees through supportive leadership style and management practices.

Dr Steve Boorman's review of NHS Health and Well-being has published its interim report. The review sets out to investigate and improve the health of NHS staff, and their health and well-being provision at work.

The interim report calls for routine early intervention support for NHS staff experiencing mental distress and for all managers in the NHS to develop the skills to support staff health and wellbeing.

This study from the Mental Health Foundation examines the role of depression in returning to work after a period of sickness absence across four types of chronic illnesses: depression and anxiety, back pain, heart disease and cancer.

The report shows that almost half (45%) of those with a physical condition experienced mild to moderate depression, but were more worried about telling their employer about their mental health issues.

The outputs of the Foresight report have been published. The project was looking at the future challenges in mental health and wellbeing.

We contributed to the Scientific evidence on employment in SR-B9: Factors influencing recovery from serious mental illness and enhancing participation in family, social and working life.

These are the findings of a new pilot which placed employment advisers in GP surgeries. They acted as a link between patients and a range of services and support offered by Jobcentre Plus and other organisations.

The pilot has been largely successful with positive feedback from GPs, the advisers and the patients who consulted them in the surgery.

Dame Carol Black's review of the health of Britain's working age population Working for a healthier tomorrow recognises that for most people work is good both for their long-term health and for their family’s well-being. Its proposals focus on keeping people healthy at work, and also on helping them return to work if they get ill.

Key recommendations include:

• New Fit for Work service to be piloted for patients in early stages of sickness – if rolled out the aim would be to make work-related health support available to all
• If successful Fit for Work should be extended to those on incapacity and other out of work benefits. Government should also expand provision of Pathways to Work to cover all on incapacity benefit
• Outdated paper-based sick note should be replaced with an electronic ‘fit note’, stating what people can do, not what they can’t
• Occupational health should be brought into the mainstream of healthcare provision

CSIP has published a new guide to user involvement in CSIP. Valuing Involvement also provides information on working and benefits.

A new survey of 1500 GPs has found that two-thirds (64%) are unaware of the evidence that work is beneficial for physical and mental health. However, nearly 90% said that if they knew of this evidence it would affect the advice they give to their patients.

Evidence published last year conclusively found that being in work can help people with a health condition to get better; and returning to work from unemployment improves health. Work can be intrinsic to health and wellbeing, boosting self-esteem and quality of life.

Read our response to this initiative.