The Labour Party’s successful campaign in 1997 was soundtracked by D:Ream’s ‘Things can only get better’.
Earlier this year, I was at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, where I was involved in a roundtable on how societally we need to help people to get better too – and what role the insurance industry can play.
It seems timely, as we are all now being invited to contribute to a national conversation on the NHS, to create a 10-year plan, following Lord Darzai’s recent review suggesting that the NHS is broken.
The Liverpool roundtable included representatives from a very wide range of stakeholders and there was a real sense of common ground and shared interests.
There is a clear and understandable focus within the new government on growing Britain’s economy. A large part of this will be helping millions of the economically inactive back into the workplace.
Much of this inactivity is driven by work-limiting health conditions, and there is growing recognition that insurers can, and do, pay a really positive role.
Pathways to work
Some conditions will make getting into work really hard, and the benefits system needs to reflect this through appropriate support – there is an obvious danger in inappropriate pressure being applied.
Equally, there are many who will be keen to work but need more support.
Findings in the Barnsley Pathways to Work Commission Report this year suggests that seven in 10 people who are currently economically inactive would like to take a job that is aligned to their skills, interests and circumstances.
Despite the geographically limiting title, the report themes are about more than Barnsley – it was prepared under the guidance of former cabinet minister Alan Milburn, and seems likely to inform wider government thinking.
There are many components to a healthy workforce. Much more emphasis is needed on prevention, which needs to go beyond just providing fruit or yoga classes.
Employers also need to focus on vocational rehabilitation. This is a component that is too often overshadowed by Occupational Health in consultation documents, which indicate whether someone is fit for work, rather than getting employees back to work.
For too long, rehabilitation has gone unnoticed and been under-valued. However, it very evidently prevents and reduces ill health related job losses.
We know it that the sooner rehabilitation starts, the more likely it is that someone will stay in work. We also know that too few people have access to it.
Cost of sickness
At Zurich, we recently commissioned the Centre for Economics and Business Research to explore the scale of the issue.
It estimated that some 112.5mn sick days were taken last year by workers with long-term health conditions, costing the country £32.7bn in lost productivity.
By 2030, at current rates of growth, workplace absences due to long-term sickness will cost the economy around £66.3bn every year – more than the defence budget.
