offers when it comes to EAPs that provide mental health support in the workplace and, as such, we felt a responsibility to provide a high-quality Lancashire based service.
“Lancashire Minds’ EAP provides local in-person and quality offers that have a complete focus on the interests of Lancashire people, rather than commercial priorities.
“We want to provide a quality offer that puts people first. Our offer is supplemented with training and self-help resources.”
Jen Briggs, head of HR and partnerships at James’ Places, says “Lancashire Mind has
Expert View
ACTING TO DELIVER A HEALTHY WORKFORCE
By Prof StJohn Crean, Pro vice chancellor (research and enterprise), University of Central Lancashire
Public health, the county council and Innovate UK, have commissioned and delivered a number of healthy workplace initiatives.
There have been a number of support programmes designed for businesses and their workforces, particularly along the M65 corridor. These are looking to provide supportive health services available for individuals in work who find themselves struggling with their health and wellbeing.
Here at the University of Central Lancashire, we have been involved with an Innovate UK funded programme with Active Lancashire called ‘Business Health Matters’. It was designed to offer work-based health checks (University and leisure centres), including mental health checks which were provided by Lancashire Mind as key partners in the program.
The idea was to offer health assessment to individuals and businesses to raise awareness within workforce to catch health issues upstream and hopefully avoid the inevitable sickness development with associated time off work or engaging limited work patterns.
In my role as chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Health sector group I’ve been involved in a lot of strategic, city and regional aims, as well as representing the University of Central Lancashire in discussions contributing to the Lancashire Growth plan.
The concept that the workforce needs to remain healthy or regain health, is going to be key for Lancashire to achieve its ambitions of economic growth.
The university has now taken forward the ‘Business Health Matters’ programme and turned it into a much more complete
service known as the ‘Wellness Centre’. It is a programme which will offer to businesses in the region, varying degrees of support for physical and mental health at individual and system level.
We will launch in August 2025 offering a range of health checks and other diagnostic packages as well as a series of interventions focussed on the main health-based concerns. We will also offer a bespoke and tailored service to businesses to improve productivity through better health status of its employees.
There will be physical, psychological and nutritional aspects to any package using our University staff as experts in their respective fields. The programme will also integrate social prescribing wherever suitable, connecting businesses to non- clinical practitioners that will help meet the needs of the organisation.
We have one of the biggest social prescribing units in Lancashire whereby we have created a network of charities, practitioners and small businesses that offer specific services to those that would benefit from them. This may include nature-based therapies, art, music and other holistic approaches to wellbeing.
We not only provide more traditional exercise, nutrition, medical and blood pressure checks but we also add life experience. It’s a really important holistic combination to be able to offer individuals and organisations.
Lancashire needs a healthy functional workforce to realise it economic ambitions. There are many approaches which can be employed but intervention and recognition at the earliest stage will be vital. Workforce support will play an increasingly popular approach.
provided us with thorough resources, courses and training.
“The EAP has been instrumental in managers and our mental health and wellbeing champions being equipped to support our staff and teams across the group.”
Ian Treasure, WorkWell programme lead, said: “We are keen to work alongside local businesses to help support your employees who may be experiencing problems affecting their wellbeing, which is often issues outside of work. We are encouraging people to come forward for help, and local employers can help.”
By Ged Henderson
PANTHERA POWERS CLINICAL TRIALS REVOLUTION
A sign on the wall of Panthera Biopartners’ head office in Preston declares it to be ‘shaping a healthier future’. It is no idle boast.
The leading clinical trials group works with 10 out of the top 12 pharma companies and seven of the top contract research organisations (CROs), supporting them as they look to deliver advancements in medical treatments.
Today it is carrying out trials in vaccines, cardiovascular, general medicine, diabetes, neurology, respiratory, dermatology and rheumatology alongside specialist areas such as oncology and early dementia.
As well as Preston, Panthera’s expanding UK network of dedicated trial sites includes clinics in Glasgow, York, Sheffield, Rochdale and Enfield. It also has European expansion in mind as its work continues to grow.
In the last quarter of 2024 alone, Panthera signed up more than 1,000 UK patients to take part in its studies.
And since it began its work, it has connected with more than 300,000 individuals, including over 200,000 invited to take part in trials for preventative treatments such as vaccines for covid-19, flu, norovirus and HPV.
In early March this year it signed two major contracts worth more than £10m each with international pharma companies. It will recruit patients and run the clinical trials for them at its sites across the UK.
Panthera’s success is built on the sector- leading knowledge and expertise of its team when it comes to trial recruitment.
It is the UK’s largest Site Management Organisation (SMO) – a model created by one of its founders, retired Coppull GP Dr Ian Smith.
In the early 1990s he started to take part in trials, recognising it was something that would help his patients. However, he found working with a small number of people was quite demanding and not particularly cost effective.
He hit on the idea of a distinct organisation that could enrol patients from surrounding GP practices and run the clinics separately, so that people who took part in the trials were not caught up with patients attending surgeries.
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