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Health Minister WES Stroeting plans to ask employers to invest in vaccination and medical examinations for staff because he wants to reduce government spending on hospital care.
Officials view ways to encourage early health interventions in the workplace as part of wider efforts to improve public health and avoid expensive visits to the hospital before next winter.
“We think an agreement should be done, but that would be in partnership, not something that would be forced to work,” one official said. “It’s in the interest of employers and NHS.”
One proposal that was observed would allow great employers to buy vaccines through NHS Offer staff, while others would promote regular health examinations for older workers to notice early signs of condition such as cardiovascular diseases.
The government currently consumes 8 percent of its annual health budget – about £ 20 billion – for preventive care. However, the cost of these interventions is expected to increase in the coming years, as new medicines will be found to prevent infectious diseases, obesity, cancer and other diseases on the market to the market with large prices markings.
“Among the officials and the wider health sector, there is a debate on whether or not NHS can prevention,” said Professor John Bell, president of the Ellison Institute of Technology. “Hospitals are a completely inappropriate place for prevention, GPS doesn’t want it. I think we need new channels to make it.
“Will the average employer will be willing to pay for it? Yes, I think they will,” Bell added, pointing to the business benefits of maintaining good, trained employees in the workforce longer.
The number and proportion of workers signed due to poor health have increased in recent years. “Fit Note” – better known as “sick notes” – issued by GPS with 8.7 million in 12 months to March 2021. At 11mn in the equivalent period until March 2023, according to NHS.
“There is also a problem in the form of an economic activity we are aware of,” added the government official. “You cannot do holy at the work and pension department only to solve the problem slow productivity. “
Measures to help people with long-term health conditions remain at work are central to push DWP To reduce consumption for well -being And increase employment, which will be placed in green paper next month.
DWP asked Sir Charlie Mayfield, former chairman John Lewis, to explore ways to strengthen the role of employers in a workplace. Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Insurance and Disability, suggested that this could include the search for employers to carry an account when the sick or disabled need specialist equipment or support to take a new job or start operating.
Sebastian Rees, who runs health policy at the Institute of Public Policy Research, said “companies can and should do more.”
“One thing you could do is expand the amount of tax relief available for medical treatment employers,” he said, suggesting that it could be used for health at work. “You can currently write off a 500 -pound medical treatment if it helps to get back to work. You can also look at the restriction here and expand the support range that fulfills the conditions for the tax relief.”
Business groups are lobbying for more tax reliefs to reduce the cost of supporting their employees. In the budget of last year’s budget, the CBI has called for an expansion of tax reliefs to make it easier for employers to support mental health, projections and vaccinations and treatment recommended by professionals of health care.
Streeting plans make up part of a wider movement to try to move the costs of financing preventative health interventions away from the NHS to the private sector.
The Ministry of Health said: “We have already begun piloting comprehensive heart health tests in jobs, and our work of Britain, GET Britain, will ensure that people with health conditions can progress in meaningful employment.
“Any further work in this area would be done in collaboration with companies.”
