Wellbeing isn’t only the employers job….
I've lived with a chronic health condition. I know what it is to be too unwell to work, and I know what it's like to have an employer be unprofessional and unsupportive when you're ill. This isn't about blaming people who are struggling, or letting employers off the hook.
But I've also been told I would never be well. That's when I decided to take my health into my own hands, rather than leave it entirely to the NHS. And that experience has left me asking a question I think is worth sitting with.
There's never been more support for employee health and wellbeing in the UK than there is right now.
Wellness policies. Sick pay packages. Carer support. Health and safety as standard. Packages vary hugely, of course, but as good companies grow, they tend to grow what they offer their people too.
And yet diagnoses — physical and psychological — are rising every year.
So at what point do employees also need to take responsibility for their own health?
We live in a country where cars are used for five-minute journeys. Where ultra-processed food fills every supermarket shelf. Where a daily drink is normalised, and pushing yourself harder is treated as a virtue.
It surely cannot all sit with the employer.
When life starts to wobble, work is often the easiest place to point the finger. Home pressures, exhaustion, hormone imbalance, financial strain, too much alcohol, not enough movement or daylight — all of it can quietly get filed under "having a hard time at work," especially when we're challenged on a mistake or struggling with a project.
Work has, in some cases, become the only place people get any support at all. It's often easier to get help at work than it is to get a GP appointment.
But with heart disease, diabetes, mental health issues, autoimmune conditions and fatigue all rising year on year, taking responsibility for our own health matters more than ever.
In 2026, we spend around 30% less of our income on food than we did thirty years ago. We want Netflix, Sky, the new car, two holidays a year — and quality food slips down the list, while convenience wins out.
Our reliance on the NHS means Brits invest less in their own health and wellness than many of our European neighbours. Have we come to expect to be fixed, with little input from ourselves?
Other countries start young. Children are taught about nutrition and exercise in school. School dinners are fish, vegetables, fruit. Most UK state schools don't place that responsibility on children — we don't educate on health and nutrition early enough.
Coaching in Health and Wellness, I work with organisations to give their people the knowledge to take back some of that responsibility.
It starts with the basics.
How much fun do you actually have? How's the quality of your sleep — are you getting more than seven hours? Does breakfast balance your energy and sharpen your brain, or leave you flagging by 11am? Do you know what toast and coffee alone is doing to you?
But it doesn't stop there. With every business interaction, we use our body and brain.
Do you know why that email bothered you so much? Do you understand your nervous system, and how to calm it? Do you know why your mind went blank when faced with conflict — and how to reboot it?
Understanding how our physiology works can be a superpower in the workplace. It protects us. It also helps us thrive.
Companies become great because of great people.
Great companies know there's only so much they can do — and they're starting to educate their own people on how to sustain that greatness themselves, handing them the power to shape their own future.
Amy Wray 2026
