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Recession means health at work is more important than ever

That was the message from Lord McKenzie of Luton, Parliamentary under-Secretary of State at the Department of Work and Pensions, at today’s Health & Wellbeing 09 conference at the QEII conference centre in London, held by GovNet Communications.

Absence from work due to sickness costs the economy around £100bn a year and 2.6m people are on incapacity benefits, Lord McKenzie said. The government wants to change perceptions so that work is seen as a means to good health and can aid recovery from illness, he added.

The medical certificate or ‘sick note’ as it is popularly known is being reformed to become a ‘fit note’, which describes the tasks that people are still capable of, rather than the activities they cannot perform. It is due to be launched in April 2010. “We want it to be a tool for helping people to stay in work or return to work,’ said Lord McKenzie. A training programme for GPs has also been launched to raise awareness that ‘Work is often in the patient’s best interest.”

Ken Hesketh, Chief Executive of Benenden Healthcare, said research by his company found that 80% of public sector staff have never heard of ‘Total Reward’. This is a means by which health and wellbeing at work can be delivered, covering pay, progression and rewards for performance, together with flexible working and help with childcare and transport costs.

“There is failure here…which comes from the people at the top and is possibly to do with communication” said Hesketh. He added, “We all know there will be intense pressure on our budgets over the next few years… If ever there was a time to stand fast and invest in staff across the public sector, this is it.”

Andrew Lansley MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said the Conservatives want to work with local chambers of commerce and other organisations such as the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) to provide advice on occupational health to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). “It is not about preaching to SMEs, it is about giving them the opportunity to offer something,” he said.

Dr Steve Boorman, lead reviewer of the NHS Workforce Health & Wellbeing Review and Director of Corporate Responsibility and Chief Medical Advisor at Royal Mail, said the Department of Health had accepted the conclusions of his report, submitted in October. All 21 recommendations are to be incorporated into NHS core strategy.

The report found that 10.3m working days are lost every year to sickness absence in the NHS, at a cost of £1.7bn a year. Reducing sickness absence by a third would save £560m a year.

Boorman emphasised that there are many examples of good practice on staff health and wellbeing in the NHS, and these trusts tended to score better on the quality of patient care as a result. But good practice is not being spread systematically through the NHS: “There were many beacons of best practice in the NHS but that excellence wasn’t spread through the organisation.”