At #GatesheadHealth, our Occupational Health and Wellbeing Team is home to an in-house counsellor who is there to support those who are experiencing work-related issues. We also work in close partnership with many external services who offer wider and more specialised support.

Recent changes to the service mean that Occupational Health Counselling is now for those with work-related issues, and will be accessed by management referral only. Where a member of staff does not feel able to complete a management referral for counselling with their Line Manager, the referral process can instead be supported by another senior manager within their service in the first instance. While the service is now accessed by management referral, it should be noted that no reporting is created for or shared with managers when referring to the service – this differs to other management referrals.

Referrals for all other reasons will now be signposted to alternative and more specialised services, a list of which can be found in the list below under the heading ‘Alternative routes of support‘.

Our new approach encourages active involvement from line managers, aiming to maximise their awareness of any issues. As a result, there may be more of an opportunity to implement appropriate workplace support and/or adjustments to help colleagues through difficult times.

Please note that counselling is not an emergency service. If you have urgent concerns, we advise contacting your GP, NHS 111 (and selecting Option 2 for Crisis Mental Health Support), emergency services or attending A&E. We have also included a number of signposting avenues for those in need of more urgent support towards the bottom of this page and over on our dedicated crisis support webpage.