Provider and location : Swindon, Wiltshire. http://www.swindonpct.nhs.uk/Staying_Healthy/mental_health.htm

Who will benefit?

Anyone across Swindon and Wilshire who has an identified mental health issue. People can self refer if they want to do so using the Employment works website

Swindon's services demonstrate an excellent range of services to support early intervention and promotion of mentally healthy work practices.

Key features.
 
The Employment Advisers work alongside therapists, providing information, advice, guidance and practical support to help working people using the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service to remain in work, or return to work as quickly as possible. Employment advice providers work with local businesses to raise the profile of the service and the availability of coordinated health and employment support for employees.

The Mindful Employer network across Swindon and Wiltshire is led by Richmond Fellowship and funded by the Primary Care Trust. A video showcasing this work demonstrates how the major employers are committed to supporting the network and why and this can be accessed here.

Swindon Occupational Partnership established a network across statutory and third sector organisations offering people employment related activity in Swindon and Wiltshire.

How they are being delivered.

Richmond Fellowship Wiltshire is also part of Nextstep, providing services for people - with or without mental health conditions - wishing to gain information about careers, employment and training and has Matrix accreditation, the national accreditation for approved careers advice services.  They have funded specialist support in the volunteering sector, which has reported good outcomes for people who use services.   Click here to view report.

There is now ample evidence that volunteering can lead to a job- and volunteering forms part of many people's return journey to work (Volunteering).

It is important to include the Primary care work as this is long established across Swindon and forms part of the range of services that people can access.

Primary care

As part of the  IAPT initiative, the region has a commitment to supporting people to move from work related welfare benefits back into employment, not only helping those who are unemployed to gain employment but also to support those who are in work and struggling. The principle of early intervention is fundamental to the structure and design of IAPT Employment Support Services. Early access to integrated health and work support will provide a better chance of more rapid re-engagement in the labour market.

A key feature is the range of 15 different groups offered across a range of venues access to groups, including one for people newly redundant.

An integral component of any mental health employment support service is to engage local employers to recruit and support those with mental health problems

Their website has a good section about looking after your mental health with links to further help for debt, NHS choices and five a day for mental well-being aimed at promoting better self help.

Also on offer as part of the whole system of what is offered are:

Books on prescription, a wide range of publications to support self help strategies

Learning on prescription, enabling people to access learning as part of their self help journey to recovery

Mindful employer

Beating the blues, a computerised CNT programme available widely throughout Swindon and Wiltshire

Anti bullying campaign led by the PCT

What looks good about them?

The Primary Care programme has been established for nearly 20 years and has pioneered aspects such as books on prescription and the beating the blues programme. There is access to a wide network of organisations all supporting each other and demonstrates the aspiration of whole systems working in action.

The Unemployment rates are higher for Swindon than other areas in the South West.  See Swindon Brief

Gaining such wide sign-up for the Mindful employer, alongside a dedicated local network to support this in action is vital. The range of group work on offer includes a group for people newly redundant. This area is also part of the widening action team from Job Centre Plus, because of the high unemployment rates in the area.