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A vision of a healthier Britain was unveiled today 17th March, by Dame Carol Black as she proposed radical changes to work-related health services making them available to all.
The review recognises that for most people work is good both for their long-term health and for their family’s well-being. Its proposals focus on keeping people healthy at work, and also on helping them return to work if they get ill. The review found that ill health was costing the country £100 billion a year – enough to run the entire NHS. ‘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. ‘This is not only devastating for them, but also for their families. Their children suffer financially, emotionally and it can affect their long-term futures. ‘The aim of my review is not to offer a utopian solution for improved health in working life, but to identify factors that stand in the way and offer potential solutions.’ Dame Carol spells out the key challenges in the review, which include insufficient access to good work-related health support in the early stages of sickness, including mental health conditions. Provision is currently disproportionately concentrated among a few large employers, leaving the vast majority of small employers without support Other issues include the current sick note process which concentrates on what people can’t do, instead of what they can.
The review is the result of wide-ranging research and consultation including a series of events held around the country and a Call for Evidence which produced more than 260 responses. An important step was also the ground-breaking consensus statement signed by more than 30 health professional bodies, including the BMA and RCGP. They pledged to help people enter, stay in or return to work, where appropriate, because it is often in the patients’ best interests. "Taken together, the evidence provides a clear and compelling case. In short, we cannot go on as we are. I hope this review will lay the foundations for urgent and comprehensive reform. But there are difficult and challenging messages for everyone, whether they are politicians, healthcare professionals, employers, unions or individuals. All have a shared responsibility for the health of Britain’s working age population. ‘We must act now to build on the emerging consensus around a new approach to health and work in Britain.", said Dame Carol. Editor's note: Interestingly there is a lack of a requirement for business to provide good occupational health services in the reports recommendations. Given that the Uk Government has never signed up to the ILO Convention 161 of 1985 on OHS services, this is hardly surprising. PART I. PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL POLICY Article 1 For the purpose of this Convention- (a) the term occupational health services means services entrusted with essentially preventive functions and responsible for advising the employer, the workers and their representatives in the undertaking on- (i) the requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment which will facilitate optimal physical and mental health in relation to work; (ii) the adaptation of work to the capabilities of workers in the light of their state of physical and mental health; (b) the term workers' representatives in the undertaking means persons who are recognised as such under national law or practice. Source: GNN
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