BBC File on 4: “Employees of Health Assured Claim it is Unethical and Risks Harm”
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A BBC Radio 4 investigation of leading EAP business Health Assured found unethical targets, overworked staff and risky practices downgrades its offer of workplace mental health as accredited by the BACP
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The UK’s biggest EAP (employee assistance programme) Health Assured came in for harsh criticism in a File on 4 investigation on Radio 4 earlier this month. These claims are to be investigated by the BACP, which had accredited the business.
Health Assured offers workplace mental health support to companies and institutions (such as NHS trusts and universities). Around 13 million workers in the UK and Ireland are eligible to use their services.
When File on 4 was initially researching the topic, they approached therapists from a wide range of providers, but it was those working for Health Assured that raised the most serious concerns. Fifteen current and former employees of Health Assured spoke about a range of issues, ranging from unethical working practices and targets to unrealistically high workloads and managers who were not clinically trained.
Therapists are employed by Health Assured to provide phone support. These calls may in themselves be considered support, or they may lead to up to six sessions of online, or less commonly, face-to-face therapy. However, as one recently trained counsellor explained to the radio programme’s reporter, the business is founded on keeping the therapy provision to about 20% of the calls.
One recently qualified counsellor explained she was limited in the number of people she could refer to structured counselling because of company targets.
"Every time you put someone forward for therapy, you're stepping further and further away from your targets because the target is to put as few people through as possible.”
Another therapist said there was “an incentive to fob the client off with coping strategies, when they are trying to get therapy."
While Health Assured denies limiting targets, the BBC has seen internal communications sent to counsellors which seem to show weekly targets being set. In one week, it appears they were asked to keep calls below 19 minutes and to refer just 18% of callers to therapy.
One such caller, Mikey, was interviewed by the File on 4 journalist. A nurse practitioner in a busy A+E, he hit a period of very low mental health and was signed off work. His workplace recommended he call Health Assured and he told the counsellor on the phone he felt suicidal. It took several calls, including an hour-long assessment, before he was given advice: ‘go on a date with your wife and everything will be OK’.
Mikey says it was not until his third call - six weeks after the first - that he was finally put in touch with a local therapist for face-to-face counselling. He said it transformed his mood, but he was concerned that others would give up if faced with the same difficulties.
Elizabeth Cotton, Associate Professor for Responsible Business at Leicester University, told the programme that large online therapy platforms like Health Assured rely on a high rate of attrition to make a profit on low-price subscriptions. According to the therapists and clients interviewed in File on 4, this is actively encouraged by management.
Health Assured told the BBC its ultimate focus is on clinical excellence, and that its clinical processes and policies are audited annually as part of its BACP accreditation.
Meanwhile, File on 4 put concerns raised with in the programme to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which has accredited its service. A BACP representative said it would investigate the allegations and take "appropriate action" if it found "unethical behaviour or poor practice".
Louise Chunn from Welldoing, said, "The stress of finding help for mental health issues is the reason I founded Welldoing, 10 years ago. We don't believe that everything can be sped up in this process, which is one of the reasons we added the Personalised Matching Service, which has been very popular with our clients. We also work with businesses and institutions to provide their staff or members with support and practitioners."
