Keep Britain Working discovery phase response
Published 20 March 2025
In March, the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business and Trade published Sir Charlie Mayfield's, Keep Britain Working discovery phase.
Commenting on the release of this independent report, Simplyhealth CEO, Paul Schreier, said: “Sir Charlie Mayfield, lead of the government's Keep Britain Working review, is right when he says that preventing people from dropping out of work is just as important as trying to get people back into the workforce. Evidence shows it leads to significantly lower economic inactivity than an equivalent increase in 'reactivation' rates.
“We mustn’t lose sight of the value that comes from providing working people with preventative, easy to access healthcare support through their workplace - particularly when the NHS is in crisis. With one in five of the working population reporting that they have a work limiting health condition, this support must be available regardless of pre-existing conditions too.
“Businesses and the government have a shared objective here and we must collaborate.
“With challenging economic headwinds and a shared priority of achieving growth, it’s vital that businesses do not face a greater financial burden to look after the health of their staff. Instead, the government must make it easier to invest in workplace health support, with further incentives to encourage uptake, and the removal of existing barriers, looking again at the excessive tax burdens.
“We welcome the recommendation that people are given faster access to effective health support and treatment, particularly for mental health and MSK, the biggest causes of sickness absence.
“We encourage the government to try and avoid the mistake of looking too narrowly in scope at health support available. While traditional occupational health is great for addressing specific work-related issues, the flexibility of health plans offer more comprehensive coverage – still for a low-cost, and unlike other forms of private medical insurance, pre-existing health conditions are covered. This supports businesses to affordably provide fast access to healthcare for those people that are most at risk of dropping out.”
Read the full report here.
Further information on Simplyhealth’s research and policy recommendations can be found in their latest report: Improving access to healthcare via the workplace: recommendations for how to make it easier for businesses to reverse the workforce sickness epidemic and reduce economic inactivity here.
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