The vital role of medical support in EAPs

Picture this: At 8 pm one evening, Sarah, a 29-year-old marketing coordinator, feels a sharp pain in her ear, which has been bothering her since the weekend. The pain becomes unbearable, but her local GP surgery is already closed. She knows that if she waits until the next day to seek medical attention, she might be too uncomfortable to go to work. But visiting A&E so late at night feels unnecessary and would probably involve waiting several hours. What Sarah needs is access to 24/7 medical support.

This guide describes the vital role of medical support in employee assistance programmes (EAPs), and how this service overcomes many common barriers to accessing timely healthcare in the UK.

When employees face illness or injury, they need to access medical support quickly, either to receive diagnosis, treatment, or reassurance they’re not experiencing anything more sinister.

For employees with dependents, the stakes are even higher. Caring for sick children or elderly family members while managing work obligations can feel impossible without timely support. This is where accessible medical services become essential — not just for employees to function but for them to feel supported.

One example comes from Amy Rixon, Chief People Officer at HUB24, who recounted her experience of Sonder:

“Until I actually used Sonder myself, I didn’t fully understand all the benefits. I was away on a long weekend, our daughter was sick, everything was closed, we couldn’t find a doctor. I downloaded the Sonder app and was speaking to a nurse within 10 minutes. And they helped us find a local facility where we were — we weren’t in our local place. So it was just super practical, and I thought, ‘I’ll use it for this.’”

For Amy and many others, swift access to medical support alleviates stress and ensures families get the care they need without unnecessary delays.

The UK’s National Health Service has been a cornerstone of healthcare in the UK since it was founded on the 5th of July 1948, and described as a “great and novel undertaking” by Welsh politician Aneurin Bevan. While the British public widely regards the NHS as one of the nation’s most cherished institutions, many would also agree that it fails to deliver a high standard of service. In fact, only24% of people felt satisfied by the NHS in 2023, a drop of 29% since the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Some of the top reasons for this dissatisfaction include:

• Waiting times for GP and hospital appointments (71%)
• Staff shortages (54%)
• Insufficient government spending (47%)

Any delays in accessing medical care can feel incompatible with the urgency of patients’ needs. But problems with the NHS itself doesn’t paint a complete picture of the challenges employees have obtaining the care they need. Additional research finds that 20% of workers struggle to get time off work for medical appointments, making this a workplace culture issue, too.

Employers now recognise the limitations of the current system, with 47% identifying access to private healthcare as one of their top health and wellbeing priorities for employees.

Employee assistance programmes exist to support employees in a variety of ways. Traditionally, EAPs have focused on mental healthcare, offering counselling, therapy, and addiction support that helps employees with their wellbeing.

But supporting mental health issues is only one part of the employee’s needs, which is where EAPs can fall short. Modern EAP alternatives take a more holistic approach, offering comprehensive safety and medical support as part of their services.

Here’s what you can expect from a modern EAP alternative like Sonder:

• 24/7 availability: Employees can connect with medical professionals, including registered nurses, at any time — no matter where they are.
• Efficient resolutions: Many health concerns can be addressed remotely, saving employees trips to the GP or hospital. Sonder reports that its medical support saves members a trip to a doctor or hospital 60%* of the time.
• Support for families: EAP alternatives that extend medical support to dependents ensure that employees’ loved ones receive the care they need, reducing stress for working parents or caregivers.
• Support for common complaints: Employees may be anxious about various medical concerns but unable to justify taking time off work or booking a healthcare appointment to address them. Modern EAP alternatives enable members to address a wide range of queries. Sonder members report their top five concerns* as pain, cold or flu-like symptoms, work-related, medical admin, or an unwell child.

Sonder offers a comprehensive approach to employee assistance, wrapping medical, safety, and mental health support into one holistic package.

Here’s how one Sonder member describes their experience of seeking urgent medical assistance.

“I had no wait time and spoke to a registered nurse within minutes. My local doctor’s wait time is normally about 40 mins and then results in no appointment. [I followed] a very swift process of brief questions and security questions to verify Identity. The nurse was extremely caring and offered to process a further appointment with a doctor, which then led to an immediate prescription emailed. Impressively, a nurse contacted me twice post appointment via message through Sonder to ‘check in’. This was impressive and made me feel very cared for and had a great personal touch. I think the service is outstanding….and wouldn’t use my own doctor unless necessary going forward. (Mainly as its impossible to get an appointment and this saves me precious time.)”

Check out our Insider’s Guide to EAPs to learn more about the vital role of medical support in employee assistance. Then book a free Sonder demo to see our program in action.

Note: Data points marked with an asterisk (*) are based on Sonder’s internal dataset, reflecting insights from support cases handled between October 2023 and October 2024.