Occupational health has been in the news again as the Government continues to look for ways to encourage employers to provide occupational health services to their workers, in an effort to see more people in the UK back at work.
Since 2020 a growing number of people have become absent from work due to long-term illnesses, and this combined with a rush of early retirees has resulted in fewer people of working age actively in the workforce. There are now 630,000 more economically inactive working-age adults – neither looking for a job or in work – than before Covid hit and both the public and private sectors are wrestling with a severe shortage of workers, which is now harming the economy, according to the Bank of England.
Back in March Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt outlined a series of measures in his spring budget which focused on improving access to OH services. He said the Government wants to introduce policies “that encourage employers to support people back into work, to work more, and to prevent them falling out of work”. The Government pledged to “boost occupational health coverage” and is currently considering ways of providing OH across the board for employees; in the UK currently only half of the population has access to OH services - a fraction of the coverage offered in Germany or France which is closer to 100%.
Some ideas which have been put forward include subsidising small businesses to provide OH services to their staff and introducing annual health checks for those in work. Chief Executive at the Society of Occupational Medicine Nick Pahl said “We welcome the subsidy for small business as it will lead to further appreciation and knowledge about OH by employers.
“The occupational health sector needs to both take responsibility and have support to increase its capacity to meet the increase in demand,” he added.
Whatever the Government decides, the recognition of the positive impact occupational health has on the workforce is important. At Citi Health we regularly assess employees in order to help them return to work, and you can read more about how our experienced professionals conduct our occupational health assessments in our dedicated Q&A.
