Vision of a healthier Britain revealed
April 22nd 2008 The national director for Health and Work Dame Carol Black has published the first ever review into the health of the working age population – Working for a Healthier Tomorrow – calling for urgent and comprehensive reform and a new approach to health and work in Britain.
The review recognises that for most people work is good for their long-term health and for their family’s wellbeing. Its proposals focus on keeping people healthy at work, and on helping them return to work if they get ill.
The review found that ill health was costing the country £100 billion a year.
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.
“Taken together, the evidence provides a clear and compelling case. In short, we cannot go on as we are,” says Dame Carol.
To download the full review, visit: www.workingforhealth.gov.uk More articles from HSM Editorial Team: | 
