Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Occupational HealthLatest NewsSickness absenceHR practiceWellbeing

DoH plans £555m saving by cutting sickness absence

by Personnel Today 26 Apr 2010
by Personnel Today 26 Apr 2010

The Department of Health has set an ambitious target of saving £555m from reductions in sickness absence by 2012-13.


The savings were outlined in the wake of the Budget in March, and were part of a raft of measures designed to deliver £4.35bn of savings overall.


Health secretary Andy Burnham said the NHS would also contribute up to £20bn of cross-governmental efficiency savings, including saving £3.5bn from better staff productivity, improving staff health and reducing the NHS’ dependency on agency staff, although there was little in the way of detail about how any of these savings might be achieved in reality.


“To go from good to great, the NHS must become more preventative, more people-centred and more productive,” he said.


What the NHS needed to do to make these savings was take a twin-track approach that drove up quality of its people management as well as improving its absence management policies and practices, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has advised.


Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Ben Willmott, CIPD senior public policy adviser and author of the CIPD’s annual absence management survey, said: “If the government’s ambitious targets for reducing the cost of sickness absence are to be achieved, the minimum first step must be a thorough review of absence management and sick pay policy and practice in the public sector.


“However, there also needs to be a clear recognition that real savings from tackling absence will rely on better people management across the board,” he added.

Personnel Today

previous post
Employers lack faith in fit note
next post
Occupational health news in brief

You may also like

How to manage workplace investigations effectively

5 Sep 2025

Manager who called bosses ‘dickheads’ was unfairly dismissed

5 Sep 2025

Jaguar Land Rover staff sent home after cyber...

5 Sep 2025

Agency crackdown won’t cure NHS staffing crisis alone

5 Sep 2025

‘Terrible’ Employment Rights Bill returns to Commons

4 Sep 2025

Connect to Work scheme to benefit 15 areas...

4 Sep 2025

Working with pesticides linked to higher risk of...

4 Sep 2025

Sandie Peggie launches fresh legal action against NHS...

3 Sep 2025

How to stop flying blind with workforce planning

3 Sep 2025

Ex-Specsavers director suspended over wrongful expense claims of...

3 Sep 2025

  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits Live
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise