Preventative measures to help keep NHS Staff fit and well have been welcomed by the health secretary Andy Burnham. The recommendations, which have been accepted in full by the government, could save up to 3.4 million working days equivalent to 14,900 extra staff and help save the health service £555m.
The proposals were made in an independent report into the health and wellbeing of NHS Staff in a Department of Health commissioned report led by Dr Steve Boorman.
Boorman's final report makes 20 recommendations, including:
* NHS organisations have a prevention-focused health and well-being strategy in place for all staff
* senior management made accountable at each organisation for staff health and wellbeing which will be measured as part of the annual assessments of NHS performance; and early interventions for staff with musculo-skeletal and mental health conditions, to help minimise the time staff must spend suffering with these problems, and support early return to work
If implemented, NHS organisations could see a reduction in staff sickness absence, an improvement in the quality of patient care and potentially save the NHS around £555 million each year. These savings can then be ploughed back to improve the quality of patient care.
The health secretary said: "The purpose of the NHS is to improve the health and wellbeing of the general public. We cannot be serious about this if we are not committed to improving the health of those that care for our population.
"That is why I am accepting Steve Boorman's recommendations and committing to help NHS organisations implement them. We hope that by making these improvements we will provide real benefits for NHS staff and patients."
Director general of NHS Workforce, Clare Chapman said: "Today our announcement underlines our pledge in the NHS Constitution to keep our staff fit and healthy. We must ensure the health of our workforce in order to provide a high quality of care to the one million patients the NHS sees, on average, every 36 hours. Our vision is that NHS staff will be ambassadors for health with patients, their families and the communities in which they live."
