21 March 2008
Sickness absence costs the economy £100bn a year and the public sector needs to take a lead in managing the issue, the government's health and work czar said this week.
In a review of the health of the working age population, Dame Carol Black called for a new approach to health and work in the UK, with a focus on keeping people healthy at work and helping them return to work if they get ill.
'For most people, their work is a key factor in their self-worth, family esteem and identity. So if they become sick and are not helped quickly enough, they can all too easily find themselves on a downward spiral into long-term sickness and a life on benefits,' she said.
Black added that it was not her aim to provide a 'utopian solution' but to identify barriers that needed to be overcome.
Her March 17 report, Working for a healthier tomorrow, calls on the public sector to be an exemplar and notes that the civil service is already beginning to tie sickness absence reporting to performance objectives.
'Although a good deal of work has been done to improve health and attendance management in the public sector, more can and should be done to contribute to improved services to the public,' the report states. 'It is essential that the public sector steps up its efforts and works collaboratively with all organisations seeking to promote employee health and wellbeing.'
Among the other recommendations was a call to replace paper-based sick notes with electronic 'well notes', stating what people can do rather than what they cannot.
A new Fit for Work service should also be piloted to support patients in the early stages of sickness and, if rolled out, to make work-related health support available to all, including those on incapacity benefits.
Black's report received broad support from NHS managers and clinicians. Steve Barnett, director of NHS Employers, said: 'Work should be seen as an aid to recovery rather than something to be avoided. We need to expand occupational health services so that they are providing physiotherapy, psychological therapies and workplace risk assessments to the people who need them most.'
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chair of the British Medical Association, said doctors had long wanted the sicknote system, which often placed GPs in a difficult position, to be reviewed.
PFmar2008
