Time to talk about health

The last two years have highlighted the need to focus on health. For the business community, it has redefined the degree to which it can play a positive role in the health of the nation.

There is now a clear correlation between health and job satisfaction, which in turn drives better business performance. As the UK begins its journey out of the pandemic, there is a real political and societal moment to seize and drive forward the agenda on health.

“The pandemic has shown to all employers just how important health is to individual business performance and economic prosperity,” says CBI's Programme Director for Health Jordan Cummins. “All business, both within and outside the health sector, stands ready to support government and the NHS in improving the UK’s health standards.”

But to do this, dialogue between sectors and across the economy is essential – as is transparency. It’s what the CBI’s new Health Council aims to facilitate. It brings together leaders from businesses that all play a pivotal role in supporting the health of the population, ranging from life sciences to gyms and retail. It will drive informed conversations with key political departments, ministers and the NHS. Its primary objective is to shape the CBI’s work to promote health as a major driver of wellbeing, productivity and prosperity to enhance the competitiveness of the UK economy.

“This diverse membership will be a partner to UK government and the NHS at a crucial time; sharing a new and different perspective on how UK health can be improved to the benefit of the person, the NHS and the economy,” says Pinder Sahota, UK General Manager of healthcare company Novo Nordisk UK, and the council’s first Chair.

“Often the health debate is siloed” continues Sahota, who believes the CBI is trying to do something different. “However, health is a broad issue and should not just be left to the NHS to deal with. While good health, and healthcare, is a key pillar of society it is also crucial to the success of business. If improved, it can be a key driver of economic growth in the UK.”

Business has a legitimate role to play in health – but where?

With a significant proportion of our time spent in the workplace, employers have a duty to support their employees to maintain and improve their physical and mental health. Sahota believes that embracing technology during the pandemic has allowed for a more inclusive workforce. But now the UK has access to a broader talent pool, he argues: “businesses must ensure relationships with our employees evolve appropriately.”

The future of health and social care cannot be viewed in isolation from the economy, business, and the UK workforce adds Cummins. “The CBI can bring more firms to the table to progress longstanding conversations on improving health outcomes and where we get most health bang, for our industry buck.”

The proportion of people living with long term conditions is rising. The number of people living with diabetes alone in the UK is estimated to rise to 4.8 million by 2025, for example. “As NHS resource is increasingly strained, and regular contact with the health service challenging, we all have a social responsibility to maintain our health. Business is crucial in supporting this,” says Sahota.

The NHS has a 52-week backlog and a vast number of health inequalities across the nation to tackle. While demand is acute, private sector provision can play a short-term role in reducing waiting times. The CBI can play a convening role in the shape and stability of that market in the mid-term, with a focus placed upon industry’s capabilities to bring better products to market for patients to access and drive down ill health.

“Business is not immune to these challenges, and we must continue to support our workforce as we hopefully exit the pandemic,” says Sahota, who describes how business worked in tandem with the NHS throughout the pandemic in supporting employees to maintain and improve their physical and mental health. “We must now capitalise on this new social contract between employers and employees, to support a healthy and productive population.”

Good growth follows good health

As well as poorer clinical outcomes, underinvestment in health and wellbeing translates into poor economic ones. For example, 28% of adults in England are living with obesity, with the disease linked to depression and 200 other disorders such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Obesity on average deprives an individual of an extra nine years of life and is estimated to cost the NHS £6.1 billion per year. The economic burden of this goes up year by year.

“For the government to fulfil its pledge on ‘levelling up’ the nation,” says Sahota, “health must be positioned as a primary driver of economic growth and productivity, which must include a distinct focus on improving both prevention and treatment.”

A significant proportion of business growth also surrounds health and life sciences. While the UK is already seen as a world leader in those areas, it cannot afford to rest on its laurels. The global life sciences market has been growing, with key global competitors such as the US, Germany and Singapore actively investing in the race to capitalise on the economic prizes. However, UK health and life science revenues remained stalled from 2010 and 2019 – restricting industry investment and patient access to the most effective healthcare treatments.

There are fast-growing opportunities in areas like genomics, diagnostics and across the supply chains of healthcare sectors where the UK is well placed to compete. Industry is increasingly valuing the engagement opportunities with policy makers to ensure that innovation and growth in the sector are supported in the wider government agenda.

Whether it be specific to the products and services it supplies or the workforce it serves, health must be valued by business.