Onebright has launched a new ‘rapid access’ service to provide employers with faster access to mental health care across this UK.
Onebright is the largest private outpatient mental healthcare provider, and says this new service has been designed to make assessment, support and treatment more accessible.
Employees can be referred to the service on an ad-hoc basis by their employer and receive an appointment with a clinical expert within days, helping cut waiting times for mental health assessments and therapy, and reduce workplace absenteeism.
The service is provided to businesses of all sizes. It is available without long-term contracts or commitments to minimum spend. Onebright says the service is particularly useful for organisations who have employees with symptoms of anxiety and depression, work-related stress and addictive behaviours.
Onebright is also launching a return on investment (ROI) calculator to help employers calculate the specific value of offering mental health care to their employees, taking into account the impact of absences, lower productivity, and additional costs such as National Insurance contributions.
It says that although this ROI will vary between companies, the average cost to a business of an absent employee is comes in at £212 a day. Onebright says that a business with 100 employees could save over £42,000 over the course of a year by reducing the number of absences by two days each.
It adds this calculator only looks at the direct cost of absences, but the ROI likely to be highest when factors such as the impact on other employees, workflows, and productivity are taken into account.
It is estimated the economic costs of mental ill health equates to £110bn a year. This includes the costs to businesses of sickness absence, presenteeism and staff turnover. Reports from Deloitte indicate that for every £1 employers invest in mental health there will be a return on investment of £5 — but this will vary on a business to business basis.
Onebright head of partnerships Alison Bromley says: “Being able to speak to a clinical expert and access the right evidence-based treatment quickly makes a huge difference to outcomes, and is one of the most important factors when thinking about the effectiveness of therapy and treatments.
“Mental health support within businesses is no longer a nice to have, or solely part of duty of care responsibilities, rather it is a smart business decision that will not only help you to maintain a healthy and active workforce, but it will also directly impact, and improve, productivity, workplace culture and the bottom line.”
