Scheme to tackle long-term sickness in small firms

2 hours ago

Charis Scott-HolmEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

News image — Jack Latus said that since the pandemic, 800,000 more employees have left the workplace due to ill health across the UK

Getty Images A man sits with a blanket around him and cups a hot drink as he sits at a laptop. — Jack Latus said that since the pandemic, 800,000 more employees have left the workplace due to ill health across the UK

A scheme aimed at reducing long-term sickness and helping people stay healthy in work has been launched in Hull.

The Hull Resilience Hub will offer small and medium-sized businesses access to services including occupational health, faster GP access, physiotherapy, mental health support, health checks and return-to-work advice for their employees.

The initiative is being led by occupational health firm Latus Group and supported by Hull City Council and the Keep Britain Working government review.

Sir Charles Mayfield, who led the national review, said people were "leaving work earlier than they should" due to ill health.

He said: "It's bad for them financially, it's bad for them in terms of sense of purpose, and it's bad for firms, for employers, because they lose valuable people who they really could do with hanging onto."

Getty Images A stock image of a woman in a hi-vis yellow vest holding on to her back in pain in a warehouse environment. — According to Jack Latus, almost half of all long-term employee sickness is caused by musculoskeletal conditions

Jack Latus, chief executive of Latus Group, said employee sickness absences were costing the UK economy £21.2bn a year driven by sick pay, lost productivity and the expense of covering staff shortages.

In Hull, he estimated this figure to be about £500m, based on the proportion of the national cost applied to the 78,000 staff employed in the city's small and medium-sized businesses, which were particularly affected.

"They maybe don't have sophisticated HR teams and wellbeing leads. So occupational health is often left to the owner or manager of the business, who don't have the expertise to know how to utilise occupational health correctly," he said.

Will Heylings is the chief executive of Hull-based fintech start-up Thankyu, which employs 10 people and allows businesses to collect digital tips and feedback.

He said long-term sickness would affect his small business.

"If [a staff member] goes off on sick for a prolonged period of time the impact of that is not only are we covering their salary, but also the potential customers we might lose out on is a big deal."

He described the new hub as a "game changer", making support more affordable and accessible to "help keep our people happy and at work".

A man with short brown hair and stubble - he wears a grey shirt and sits next to a staircase with a window behind him in a screengrab from a videocall. — Employer Will Heylings says having a small team of 10 employees can make handling long-term sickness "challenging"

Describing the health challenges keeping people from work, Latus said mental health and musculoskeletal conditions each account for about 45% of absence cases, with the remaining 10% linked to chronic illnesses.

He said the main challenge was not identifying support, but accessing it with employees facing delays with NHS services or "unaffordable" private healthcare.

However, grouping businesses together could help staff access services at a lower cost, Latus added.

Hull City Council leader Mike Ross said the initiative was a "great example of organisations coming together to support our economy and, more importantly, our people".

The hub will be funded by the council for an initial six-month period, with participating employers expected to contribute if the scheme continues.

Listen to highlights fromHull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices