GP advice line “can cut staff absence by two-thirds”

Over 90 per cent of consultations result in the patient having a clear course of action. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Management says employees are on average absent from work through illness for eight days a year with a cost of £667.

More than eight out of ten companies report that absence is a significant or very significant cost to their organisation. Stephen Duff, deputy chief executive of HSF health plan, says “If no advice line is available and an employee or their child feels ill they can end up spending much of the morning in a doctor’s waiting room, possibly picking up extra germs and illnesses that can be taken back to homes and offices, perpetuating seasonal ills.”