Rising numbers of people with mental health issues receiving employment advice
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Rising numbers of people with mental health issues are being given employment advice as part of a drive to get them back to work, NHS data suggests. New figures from NHS England show 67,794 people began receiving employment advice through the NHS talking therapies programme last year, compared to 41,907 in the previous 12 months – a rise of 62%.
Some 1.8 million referrals were made to NHS talking therapies overall, with more than 1.2 million people starting treatment. The programme is designed to help people with conditions such as anxiety and depression, and can see them linked up with an employment adviser if they want help finding or keeping work.
Advisers help with finding roles, CV writing, prepping for interviews, looking at reasonable adjustments in the workplace for anyone with a disability and setting goals. In November, there were 119,931 referrals for adults to NHS talking therapies who were waiting for an assessment.
Around half had been waiting less than two weeks and 91,000 less than six weeks, according to NHS England. It comes after figures published late last year showed that people’s pay and job prospects improved if they could access talking therapy. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found completing a course of NHS talking therapy was “associated with a sustained improvement in labour market outcomes” compared with a year before treatment started.
