Pictured above: Brian Hall
A Government programme to change the emphasis on staff sickness
from what an employee can't do to what they can do, has been slow
to get off the ground because of a lack of preparation.
When the 'sick' note became the 'fit' note in April, it was
heralded as 'the biggest change in the area of employee absence for
many years'.
The idea behind the Department of Work and Pensions initiative
was to switch the emphasis from GPs signing people off as unfit for
work with no other option, to advising employee and employer that
he or she may be fit for work with support from their company.
The scheme relies on co-operation between GPs, occupational
health services, advice and support for small businesses, access to
better mental health services, fast-track therapeutic services and
joined-up thinking in the NHS.
It also depends heavily on GPs being able to use an electronic
system to replace handwritten, and often unreadable, sick notes. Up
to now the majority of GPs have not been able to access the fit
note forms on the computer because the systems have not been
adjusted.
At the same time, the scheme's route for the fit note into
the company is through a line manager, and experience shows that
most line managers are not sufficiently trained to make the right
decisions about the future company support for the sick person who
is considered by a GP to be 'fit for work with company help'.
Brian Hall, sales and marketing director at health insurer and
employee benefits provider, BHSF, says the Coalition Government is
committed to seeing the scheme succeed but admits there is no
money.
"The benefits reform programme announced by the Government has
focused ministerial eyes on the fit note system as a way of getting
people back to work who may otherwise choose a lifestyle of
absence".
Brian says it's all about assessment and case management based
on the premise that work is a determinant of good health and as
such absence should be minimised on health grounds.
"But the procedures and the co-operation between the various
agencies responsible for making the new system work must be
properly in place".
He has had meetings with Dame Carol Black, National Director for
Work and Health who launched the scheme in Birmingham earlier this
year, and says that there is obvious enthusiasm for the
project.
"Despite improvements in disease prevention, medicines and
working environments, absence rates have not fallen", said
Brian.
"It is obvious that although employers welcome the scheme, GPs
need to be won over and that their electronic systems must be able
to cope with the procedures.
"There is a promise that this will be so by the end of this
year, but even then there is no doubt that the 'fit for work'
programme will take a long time to become fully effective".