Healthy businesses: Change is long overdue to tackle long term sickness

I have written on previous occasions on the subject of the alarming rise in mental health problems at work. 

One statistic tells this story better than any other, which is that of the 4.3 million prescriptions written in the first four months of this year for sick notes, 40 per cent were related to mental health problems.

There are very many reasons why this has now been highlighted as a huge problem for society generally. Northern Devon does not escape from this. 

We also know that this is impacting upon the national budget for the NHS and social care providers. My focus however is on the impact that this has on the business community and how much this affects productivity generally. 

It would be easy, from a business perspective, to say that health is the problem the NHS must sort out. The fact is, however, that so serious is the current situation, that we all need to step in and do what we can to help.

There is most certainly a role here for businesses. 

Some of the latest figures highlight the health problems outside mental health. The numbers make grim reading. The economic harm caused by diseases resulting from tobacco, alcohol and obesity are huge. These are the three leading causes of preventable deaths.

Illnesses, such as, type 2 diabetes and lung cancer keep an estimated 459,000 people out of work, costing the economy around £31 billion a year. 

Two thirds of adults are obese or overweight and there are over one million weight-related hospital admissions each year, additionally 980,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions and 506,000 linked to tobacco. 

Another horrible statistic is that the rising rates of economic inactivity mean that around 2.6 million working age adults are now off with long term sickness. 

Undoubtedly, the business community has a large part to play in this agenda. Profiting from ill health with companies making an estimated £53 billion a year from the sales of tobacco, junk food and excessive alcohol. 

It is a major part of the problem and is undoubtedly contributing to the significant harm this causes our economy, public services and the well-being of millions of people.

It is also the case that many employers could help to mitigate these problems within their own places of work. 

Encouraging exercise breaks, ensuring that healthy meals are available in in-house cafes, providing in-house healthcare advice and similar measures, could lead to a significant reduction in these problems. 

It is also the case that both our retailers and manufacturers should take extra precautions to help our young people. 

Many have still the scars from lockdown and many are potentially suffering from the next pandemic, which is ‘sitting’. During these periods of inactivity (normally online) unhealthy snacking is almost inevitable.

This is a society wide problem, it is simply not good enough to say it is down to the NHS to resolve it or to suggest that individuals should adopt a healthier lifestyle. 

Small changes could be introduced. It is overdue that we should start having a more transparent discussion on this difficult subject.