Seven out of 10 employees would welcome being able to access health ‘MOTs’ through their workplace, a survey has suggested.
The poll of 2,009 people – including 1,437 workers – for health assessments provider Bluecrest Wellness, found demand for private diagnosis and treatment support was equally valued by respondents.
Cashback on opticians or dentists’ fees was rated as ‘valuable’ or ‘very valuable’ by more than two-thirds (68%). This was followed by access to physiotherapy (60%), mental health support (55%), and primary care (54%).
Health assessments
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People were mostly interested in health check-ups or assessments to find some peace of mind (61%) and identify health risks early (60%).
The top things they wanted to know were their cancer risk (70%) and heart health (70%), followed by stroke risk (52%), and then blood health, kidney and liver function, blood pressure and cholesterol.
It also recently found that three-quarters of employees admitted to working when sick. More than half were unwilling to make a GP appointment and take their symptoms to the doctor, often because they did not want to let down their teams or ‘bother’ the NHS, or simply because they felt pressured to be at work.
Bluecrest Wellness chief executive officer Dominique Kent said of the findings: “Health MOTs are clearly a fraction of the cost of something like PMI, making them a potentially workforce-wide benefit that’s both highly valued and highly valuable – supporting engagement, safeguarding staff wellbeing, and providing crucial data to drive wider strategies.”
Workplace health benefits were too often focused on treatment rather than prevention, Kent added, with a gap both in terms of access and prevention. “We believe closing the first gap can be achieved by closing the second,” she said.
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