Written question WQ88728

We recently awarded contracts for the delivery of a new In-Work Support Service that will provide rapid free access to therapeutical support for up to 7,000 employees by March 2025. The employees supported will be predominantly from SMEs, who lack access to occupational health services and are absent from work or at risk of going absent from work with mental or physical ill-health.

This new Wales wide service builds upon a European funded service that ended in December 2022 that was available in the North Wales and Swansea Bay areas only.

Our Healthy Working Wales programme supports small and medium size businesses and aligns with the delivery of the In-work Support Service to encourage the development of policies and processes. This enables employers to better understand and monitor the health and wellbeing needs of their workforce and support their particular needs including providing access to occupational health.

In March 2022, we published Stronger, fairer, greener Wales: a plan for employability and skills. This will drive forward our Economic Mission to help more people in Wales to upskill, access, and thrive in work. One of the main pillars of the Plan will be supporting people with a long-term health condition to work including working with the market and key stakeholder organisations to explore innovative ideas to increase the purchasing of multi-professional Occupational Health by SMEs and the self-employed.

Our aim is to enable early intervention measures, including direct access to allied health professionals to provide occupational health interventions, and link together health and employability services in a more person centred, holistic way.