From Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health & Work

For your information.

A story from the BBC News Website "Ill health 'costs the economy £100bn'"


"Ill health 'costs economy £100bn'

Ill health costs the British economy over £100bn a year - the same as the cost of running the NHS for a year, a report is set to say.
The calculation will appear in an analysis by Dame Carol Black, national director for health and work.

She has been looking at ways of helping people who are sick get back to work.

Measures in the report include replacing sick notes with "well notes" stating what work somebody who may have health problems can actually do.

Dame Carol is also proposing trials of a new Fit for Work service to provide access to specialists such as physiotherapists and counsellors for all employees in the early stages of sickness.

The aim would be to take quick action to help these people stay at, or return to work.

She said doctors did not wait until a cancer patient developed secondary tumours to offer treatment - but inaction in the workplace too often allowed easily treatable, minor problems to deteriorate into something more severe.

The report will say the total cost of ill-health to the British economy is around £103bn.

The bulk of that - £63bn - is made of the benefit costs and lost taxes for people who are not working due to illness or disability.

"We know that staying in or returning to work is generally good for patient's health, whereas unemployment is progressively damaging"
Alan Johnson
Health secretary

The rest of the bill is made up the cost of the care given by family and friends, the cost to an employer of having someone absent from work and other additional costs.

Dame Carol believes whole sections of society have "drifted" into a benefits culture, with generations of the same family never working.

However, she stressed that these people were not lazy - they just needed support to get back into employment.

She said: "Often these conditions are mild, such as mild mental health and musculo-skeletal problems, such as a bad back.

"There are often treatable and preventable if we could get in there early.

"But we have nothing in place at the moment that gives us early intervention and prevention."

For instance, Dame Carol said GPs struggled to get speedy access to physiotherapy and mental health counselling services.

Well notes

Well notes set out what tasks a worker can perform instead of certificates automatically signing someone off.

Sick notes are given to those with short-term health problems, but ministers are concerned people can then "drift" into claiming incapacity benefit.

Both of the main political parties are keen to significantly reduce the number of claimants.

The proposed change is not backed by doctors, who say it is asking them to "police the system".

GPs are also likely to be expected to offer patients advice about what they can do to get fit for work.

James Purnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said working could make a "real difference" to people's health and quality of life.

Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, said: "We know that staying in or returning to work is generally good for patient's health, whereas unemployment is progressively damaging."

Being unemployed could lead to problems such as more sickness, mental illness, disability, increased use of medication, higher hospital admission rates and shorter life expectancy, he added.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/7297174.stm

Published: 2008/03/17 04:20:28 GMT

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