Managing ill health

Since my last post, I’ve been meeting with a wide range of employers, benefits consultants and insurers to discuss the cancer specific screening proposition of HealthScreen UK  (HSUK).

There has been massive interest about how HSUK services can reduce the emotional and financial costs of the most common cancers. The early detection of cancer and educating people how to be the first line of defence against rising incidence has so many positive benefits:

• For the individual, knowing your cancer risk and how best to manage it dramatically improves prognosis.
• For the families of individuals affected, the emotional strain is lessened.
• For employers, the costs of private medical and other health related insurances are significantly reduced as are the absence costs associated with cancer only diagnosed in the later stages.
• For insurers, early detection reduces their cancer claims liability.
• For the NHS, the costs of treating cancer diagnosed earlier reduces financial pressure on cancer budgets.
• For the government, it supports their cancer strategy, Improving Outcomes.

We all seem to spend so much time discussing the increasing costs of treating cancer whereas we should be promoting every way possible to ensure early detection and self awareness. 

But it’s more than just about the financial benefits. Cancer screening saves lives.

Last week I was appointed MD of HealthScreen UK, the exciting new venture to help employers and their employees in the early detection and prevention of cancer.

It’s a great business to be involved with, supporting as it does the National Strategy on Cancer, Improving Outcomes   

For details please visit www.healthscreenuk.com/news  – more from me as it happens.

The most common cancer for women makes most of the headlines today following updated figures released by Cancer Research UK (CRUK). In earlier posts, I’ve told you that I am doing some work with www.breasthealthuk.com because I truly believe we can do a great deal more to reduce the enormous financial and emotional costs of this disease. (more…)

Since the general election, the Health Work and Wellbeing (HWWB) team have been pretty quiet about their future plans and objectives. Remember it is made up of representation from DWP, DoH, HSE, Scottish Government and The Welsh Assembly. They have recently published a report outlining baseline indicators on health and wellbeing reflected in surveys of both employees and employers. I don’t know who they surveyed, but some of the responses indicate that their messages are not hitting home. (more…)

The Coalition’s White Paper ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’ was published yesterday. Whilst it makes reference to the role of employers and highlights their responsibility, there is nothing as yet that we haven’t heard before.

The government calls on employers to provide better training for managers, forge closer links with occupational health and, wait for it, set up mini competitions / challenges between staff in activities such as cycling. This is hardly the radical approach that they refer to in the beginning of the document.

I don’t know who they consulted with before publication, but I don’t think they realise the significant investment that many employers already make in the health of the working population, saving much of the public purse. What would really galvanise employers are tax/financial incentives that reward them for making further investment.

November has been a busy month for the House of Lords in respect of two Private Medical Insurance (PMI) issues that lobbyists have been successful in getting an airing. The first concerns a long running dispute between certain consultants and the two largest private medical insurers around the latter looking to implement fixed fee schedules on the former. The second relates to the impact that private medical insurers reimbursement policies have on cancer patients. Let’s look at each in turn and what relevance they have for employers.   (more…)