Insurers, consultants and advisers should all get behind the government’s new Fit for Work service as it supports their objectives as well as those of their customers says Fit for Work director Mario Dunn.
Dunn, who will be speaking at the Corporate Adviser Group Risk and Healthcare Forum in London on December 2, says intermediaries can deliver value to their employer clients by showing how to integrate a free entry-level occupational health service into their existing HR system, which should reduce health-related absence by ensuring earlier intervention for health conditions and positively impact employers’ productivity.
He argues that PMI and group risk providers should also get behind the service as it should contribute to the overall health of the nation’s workers, reducing both the length and severity of claims. He points out that most referrals from the service will be to the NHS, and where private healthcare services are used, they will be used sooner rather than later.
Dunn says it is too early to assess take-up but the organisation hopes to be seeing around half of the 900,000 lengthy absences a year once it is fully embedded.
Dunn says: “This is an entry-level service available to all employees that is funded by the taxpayer. Intermediaries can help employers to integrate it into their HR policies, and insurers should have nothing to fear from it as it supports the same early intervention goals that they themselves have.”