Government takes a stance to prevent long term illness

Last week the Government officially published their response to Black and Frosts’ 2011 review of sickness absence in the UK..

The biggest change to be made as a result of the review of sickness absence, is the introduction of the Long Term Absence scheme which offers free Occupational Health (OH) assessments to employees that have been signed off work for 4 weeks. This is aimed at those working in companies that do not currently offer OH services to their employees or individuals without access to sufficient healthcare to allow a swift return to work. A GP will remain central in identifying an employee’s ability to work with the ‘fit note’, however after 4 weeks off work the GP will automatically have to refer their patients to a telephone assessment with an OH specialist (GPs can also refer earlier based on opinion of necessity).

The OH assessment will not only further help with the ailment but, most importantly, it provides the employer with information on possible changes to the employee’s role that could be made to enable a return to work. This, in theory, could work very well especially if a GP has a good relationship with the patient and, if complex, has managed the case since the beginning. Conversely, the GP-Patient survey revealed that only 41% of patients get to see the same GP ‘always or almost always’. The difference in opinions between practitioners on more subjective matters such as depression could slow down a referral even forcing more urgent patients to wait until the 4 week referral point.

Above all, the prevention of illness is seen as a priority and a ‘Responsibility Deal’ has  been launched in the UK, which urges employers to sign up and pledge to targets for improving public health and taking responsibility for their employees’ wellbeing. Recently, a number of workplace health improvement frameworks have been devised, such as the ‘London workplace health charter’, making it easier and more financially beneficial than ever for employers to give employees the chance to be healthier and happier. The benefits of participating in these schemes may include tax breaks for implementing services like Employee Assistance Programmes and public awards that employers can use to demonstrate their achievements. This seems to be a way of compensating companies for the abolishment of the Percentage Threshold Scheme that allowed businesses to be financially reimbursed for high levels of sickness related absence.

The Government is certainly making a strong stance and giving employers very little room for excuse when it comes to helping employees recover from illness and to preventing absence. Let’s hope that means more employees can look forward to better absence management and greater commitment from their employers to ensuring healthy attendance.