NHS health and well-being – the Boorman review
In 2008, the Government asked Dame Carol Black to conduct a review of Britain’s working-age population and to make recommendations to bring about positive change. Her review “Working for a Healthier Tomorrow” made 10 recommendations to the Government to improve the Health and Well-being of the population. The recommendations were accepted by the Government in full.
In 2009, the Department of Health realised that sickness absence in the NHS was greater than in most other public or private sector organisations. It also commissioned Dr Steve Boorman to review NHS staff health and well-being.
Dr Boorman’s final report which was published in November 2009 confirmed that sickness absence in the NHS was greater than in the private sector, costing £1.7bn per annum. He made 20 recommendations and advised that by improving health and well-being, NHS staff sickness absence could be reduced by a third. This would equate to a gain of 3.4m working days per year (14,900 extra whole-time-equivalent posts) or £555m in productivity savings.
The Department of Health accepted Dr Boorman’s recommendations and has set about developing a comprehensive programme of work to identify and implement the necessary improvements as part of the national workforce contribution to the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) agenda.
- NHS health and well-being review (DH website)