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Tom Hoosen-Webber, Bupa UK’s Chief People and Procurement Officer advises

“Protecting the health of your people has never been more important.

Record numbers of Britons are dropping out of the workforce because of poor health, more employees are living with chronic illness and wait times for healthcare are getting longer.”

And these challenges will persist. Earlier this year, the Resolution Foundation warned, “The UK is facing a longer-term, and more widespread, rise in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness.”1

Economic impact

The implications are alarming. A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research warns that good health is “a crucial determinant of our economic prospects, both at an individual and a national level”. 2

Understanding the issues

Meeting this challenge will require a deeper understanding of the issues driving poor health, workplace interventions to support employee wellbeing, and putting strategies in place to help people with long-term illness stay in work.

Mental health challenges

There has also been a 22% rise in the number of people not working due to long-term mental illness.4

Illness and ageing

But while illness is an inevitable part of ageing, lifestyle choices such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of activity and obesity all hasten this process — and with it the risk of people dropping out of the labour market.

Support reduces risk

Tom concludes, “the dividends in terms of talent retention, better engagement and increased productivity underline the strong business case for taking a proactive and preventative approach.”

Resources and guides

1 L Murphy & G Thwaites (PDF, 4.0MB), Post-pandemic participation: Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead, Resolution Foundation, February 2023.
2 Thomas C, Jung C, Statham R and Quilter-Pinner H (PDF, 1.6MB), Healthy people, prosperous lives: The first interim report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity, IPPR, Page 5, April 2023.
3 Thomas C, Jung C, Statham R and Quilter-Pinner H (PDF, 1.6MB), Healthy people, prosperous lives: The first interim report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity, IPPR, Page 29, April 2023.
4 Office for National Statistics (ONS), November 2022.
5 Office for National Statistics (ONS), March 2023.
6 The Children’s Society
7 Newlove-Delgado T, Marcheselli F, Williams T, Mandalia D, Davis J, McManus S, Savic M, Treloar W, Ford T. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2022. NHS Digital, Leeds.
8 Gov UK, Chapter 3, September 2018.
9 Centre for Longitudinal Studies (UCL), July 2021.
10 Cancer Research UK, March 2019.
11 Body-mass index and risk of obesity-related complex multimorbidity: an observational multicohort study DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00033-X
12 Obesity and Depression: Its Prevalence and Influence as a Prognostic Factor: A Systematic Review DOI: 10.30773/pi.2020.0099

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