The FOM was pleased to hear the Chancellor recognise the key role occupational health (OH) plays in supporting working people and is examining the detail of the government’s occupational health plans.
Professor Steve Nimmo, FOM’s President, said: “It was fantastic to hear the Chancellor recognise the importance of occupational health during his budget speech. We believe universal access to occupational health would be the most effective approach to keeping people in work and boosting the economy. However, these latest steps are welcome and we are pleased that the value of occupational health is being acknowledged at the highest level of government.”
The OH provisions in the Budget [1] include:
- An increase in funding to £25m for the subsidy pilot for SME’s to access occupational health. This trial will examine the impact on uptake of OH and build an evidence base for a national roll out of the subsidy.
- Two new consultations. One concerning opportunities to incentivise uptake of OH for employers through taxation, the second will explore increasing employer engagement with OH by regulation or other levers. This consultation will also consider “a process of kitemarking and professional accreditation to assure quality of occupational health services”. The Faculty believes this should be delivered by its SEQOHS accreditation scheme.
- A new service called WorkWell – a three-year pilot to provide funding for Integrated care systems (ICSs) to provide lower level biopsychosocial support from clinical and non-clinical services to encourage people to return to work. Exact service decided at local level by the ICSs, but may include access to OH. There is additional funding of £400m for MSK and mental health services.