AXA PPP Urge for Quicker Workplace Illness Assessment

Workplace absence due to ill health is a serious problem for employers who find that key roles are left without cover. Despite this, an AXA PPP Healthcare survey however found that 72% of Brits do go to work when they legitimately are ill enough to stay at home.

Dudley Lusted of AXA PPP healthcare said:
'It's wrong to subject hard working people to over zealous absence management methods such as having to report in sick to an occupational nurse 'helpline' or (as was suggested recently) even be subjected to a lie detector test!'

Despite this, the private medical insurance company are urging companies to deal with long term absence more quickly than the NICE guidelines recommend.

'Back pain and other musculoskeletal problems and psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression are the problems that should be setting off alarm bells. For these, early access to diagnosis and treatment is key to an early return to health – and back to work.'

The NICE guidelines suggest a 2 - 6 week period of time before iinitially assessing employees’ fitness for work. According to AXA PPP this is too long and a one week review is more effective. They feel that companies with medical insurance are better placed to have their employees assessed quickly and, that because of quicker treatment times in private health insurance, companies can help their employees recover quicker.

Axa head of corporate healthcare development Dudley Lusted says: 'Independent sector providers are well placed to provide early access to investigations and treatment, and to the dedicated case management service necessary for success in more difficult cases.

'It’s astonishing that so many employers continue to pay people not to work whilst they wait for NHS treatment when the tools to treat them cost effectively are so readily available.'