Health secretary Wes Streeting plans to ask employers to invest in vaccinations and medical check-ups for staff as he looks to reduce ballooning government spending on hospital care.
Officials are looking at ways to encourage early health interventions in the workplace as part of wider efforts to improve public health and avoid costly hospital visits before next winter.
“We think there’s a deal to be done, but it would be in partnership, not something that would be forced on business,” said one official. “It’s in the interests of both employers and the NHS.”
One proposal being looked at would allow large employers to bulk-buy vaccines through the NHS to offer to staff, while another would promote regular health check-ups for older workers to spot early signs of conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
The government currently spends 8 per cent of its annual health budget — about £20bn — on preventive care. But the cost of these interventions is expected to soar in the coming years as new drugs to prevent communicable diseases, obesity, cancer and other illnesses come to market with hefty price tags.
“There’s been a debate going on among officials and the wider health sector about whether the NHS can do prevention or not,” said Professor John Bell, president of the Ellison Institute of Technology. “Hospitals are a wholly inappropriate place to do prevention, GPs don’t want to do it. I think we need new channels to make it work.
“Will the average employer be willing to pay for it? Yes, I think they will,” Bell added, pointing to the business benefits of keeping good, trained employees in the workforce for longer.
The number and proportion of workers getting signed off work because of poor health has risen rapidly in recent years. The number of “fit notes” — more commonly known as “sick notes” — issued by GPs increased from 8.7mn in the 12 months to March 2021 to 11mn in the equivalent period to March 2023, according to NHS data.
“There is also an economic activity-shaped problem that we are aware of,” the government official added. “It can’t be down to the Department for Work and Pensions alone to solve the problems of sluggish productivity.”
Measures to help people with long-term health conditions stay in work are central to a push by the DWP to cut welfare spending and boost employment, to be set out in a green paper next month.
The DWP has asked Sir Charlie Mayfield, former chair of John Lewis, to explore ways to bolster employers’ role in workplace health. Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability, has suggested this could include asking employers to foot the bill when ill or disabled people need specialist equipment or support to take up a new job or get to work.
Sebastian Rees, who leads health policy at the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank, said “businesses can and should do more”.
“One thing you could do is expand the amount of tax relief available for employers for medical treatments,” he said, suggesting this could also be used for occupational health. “At the moment you can write off £500 worth of medical treatment if it helps get someone back into work. You could look at both raising the cap here and expanding the range of support that is eligible for tax relief.”
Business groups have been lobbying for more tax breaks to cut the cost of supporting their employees’ health. In the run-up to last year’s Budget, the CBI called for a widening of tax reliefs to make it easier for employers to offer mental health support, screenings and vaccinations and treatments recommended by occupational health specialists.
Streeting’s plans form part of a wider movement to try to move the costs of funding preventive health interventions away from the NHS and on to the private sector.
The Department of Health said: “We have already begun to pilot comprehensive heart health checks in workplaces, and our Get Britain Working paper will make sure people with health conditions can thrive in meaningful employment.
“Any further work in this area would be done in collaboration with businesses.”