Health & Case Management (HCML) has launched a case management service to cut workplace absence and reduced productivity costs caused by growing mental health problems.
The case management service said the initiative was in line with the Government's agenda to put mental health provision on a par with physical rehabilitation.
The new service, It's The Time To Talk, manages individuals' recovery with the least intensive intervention needed to help them stay at work or return to work fast and including employers from the outset.
While the initial triage uses psychometric screening tools to determine if professional case management can add value,HCML then offers appropriate workplace support and personalised intervention, including self-management and telephone-support or intensive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Referrals to HCML can be made by employers, occupational health professionals, insurers and solicitors.
HCML's chief executive officer Keith Bushnell said it was a world apart from employee assistance programmes (EAPs) in adopting an evidence-based, stepped-care approach to individual recovery:
"EAPs often fail to provide the individual with the right tools to sustainably return to work and independently manage their psychological symptoms.
"Mental illness has become the UK's biggest cause of absence and disability but employer-funded health insurance plans still focus on physical problems. This exposes employers to significantly increased costs when it comes to mental health conditions."
One in six employees in the UK experiences depression, anxiety or stress-related problems at any time according to the Department for Work and Pensions, though severe problems are very rare.
The Office for National Statistics states that mental health problems accounted for 14 million lost work days in 2011.
A report by the CIPD in 2012 found that stress was the most common cause of long-term sickness absence in all professions.
