We in the UK used to see the National Health Service (NHS) as a source of pride. It is now feels more like a source of danger. Leaked data suggest that, in one week in December, over 50,000 sick people in England waited more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from accident-and-emergency (A&E) departments. The Economist’s mortality model echoes the warnings from emergency doctors: around one in four excess deaths in recent months is attributable to delays in emergency care.

Each year brings new opportunities and new pressures for businesses. One of these will undoubtedly be supporting the health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace. This is especially true as the looming recession places many businesses under pressure to cut costs in areas such as HR, recruitment, and wellbeing. We have already seen reports that show four-in-ten SMEs (38%) are “just about breaking even” and insolvency rates hitting 13-year record highs in Q2 of 2022.

More than one in five calls to mental health crisis lines in England are going unanswered, a BBC investigation has found.

The ongoing shortage of doctors means one in six people are 'crammed into' short slots. One in six GP appointments in England last less than five minutes, according to new data showing patients are being “crammed in”.

Only one in 10 employees (10%) with mental health conditions have sought help from their line manager over the past year and only 5% of staff members would speak to HR, research has found.

There is no surer way of getting a conversation flowing with UK residents than by bringing up that thorniest of current British issues: booking a GP appointment.

Approximately 50% of UK managers have indicated a major increase in workplace mental health issues. From the survey it is clear that wellbeing has become a much bigger talking point, with nearly half of employers stating that they’ve witnessed their employees discussing their mental health in the last year.

Mental health and wellbeing services and apps have grown within the market as NHS backlogs and long waiting times have affected people being able to access support, according to a recent report.

It’s time not just to talk about mental health and well-being but to make a real commitment to look after employees and provide effective support and solutions for all employees.

Many employers in the UK have identified mental health as a priority for improvement, however, their employees continue to feel unsupported when it comes to health and wellbeing within the workplace.

Recent research from Group Risk Development (GRiD) found that almost nine in 10 employers have benefited from supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff.

New industry research shows that employee benefits focussed on wellbeing have become crucial factors.

A at third of UK adults have revealed they were offered no physical or emotional wellbeing support work, according to a recent report by Nuffield Health.

A recent survey of over 2,000 UK employees, has highlighted those employees would welcome more targeted health and wellbeing initiatives from their employer.