Freedom of Information Request – Ref: 194-2024
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
You asked:
1) Could you please provide me with an understanding of how your Trust defines OH and EAP respectively?
Our response:
EAP – EAP is Employee Assistance Programme – the provision/access to a 3rd party platform that provides a type of counselling or support that is provided in real-time, at the very moment when a person is experiencing a particular issue, emotional distress, or crisis. GHC colleagues can speak in confidence to fully qualified counsellors and support specialists 24/7, 365 days a year to discuss any emotional, personal or work-related issues. Colleagues can also access self help materials and resources to support their mental, physical and financial health.
OH – Working Well Occupational Health services promote and protect the health and wellbeing of working people. We provide independent advice to both managers and employees on the health of individuals at work, the working environment, health risks associated with the workplace and any occupational implications.
You asked:
a) What elements/criteria do you measure to track the provision of each?
Our response:
EAP – For the EAP we receive data by month on: Usage of the self help materials; Colleagues accessing 24/7 Helpline for the 1st time; Colleagues that access counselling service via the 24/7 helpline; a breakdown in the numbers of – telephone assessments; in the moment support; telephone counselling; enhanced telephone counselling; appointments. We also capture the ‘presenting issue’ and colleague demographics by age, gender, work status, full or part time, job role, banding and directorate. In addition to which we also review, how colleagues accessed the EAP service and outcomes after therapy.
OH – For Occupational Health we have an agreed set of key performance indicators including how quickly we triage incoming new starter health questionnaires and management referrals, wait times for appointments with OH advisors or OH Physicians, our response time for contamination injuries, and wait times for immunisation appointments. We also use qualitative data to support and track our service delivery through client feedback and satisfaction surveys.
You asked:
2) Could you also please provide a breakdown of how much the trust spends on OH and EAP respectively from the total spending figures you have provided in your initial FOI response?
Our response:
EAP – GHC do not pay a fee for this service. The EAP provision forms part of the partnership with our Staff Benefits provider VivUp
OH – OH spend for 23/24 financial year was £852,504
Next steps:
Should you have any queries in relation to our response, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:
Louise Moss
Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance
c/o Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth, GL3 4AW
E-mail: louise.moss@ghc.nhs.uk
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.