We have all had to deal with stress within our daily lives and many of us have felt the effects of stress at work but did you know that recent research has estimated that the cost to UK employers for work-related mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety etc is placed at £28.3bn per year and an estimated 13.7 working days per year are lost.
On this evidence all employers must make a conscious effort to improve the mental wellbeing of its workforce. In turn, the benefits to the employers will not only be financial but also productive.
For many employees, there remains a stigma to admitting they feel stressed by their work obligations and workload. Many will suffer in silence rather than admit that they feel overwhelmed. It is therefore important for employers to recognise the signs of stress and offer help where necessary.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently issued guidance for employers on how to promote mental wellbeing at work and it is important that employers take a more proactive approach to this subject. It may be that the little things like introducing flexible working will make a major difference to the lives of employees.
As a summary, the recommendations made for employers include:
• Promote a culture of participation, equality and fairness that is based on open communication and inclusion.
• Create an awareness and understanding of mental wellbeing and reduce the potential for discrimination and stigma related to mental health problems.
• Ensure systems are in place for assessing and monitoring the mental wellbeing of employees so that areas for improvement can be identified and risks caused by work and working conditions addressed. This could include using employee attitude surveys and information about absence rates, staff turnover and investment in training and development, and providing feedback and open communication.
• If reasonably practical, provide employees with opportunities for flexible working according to their needs and aspirations in both their personal and working lives.
• Different options for flexible working include part-time working, home-working, job sharing and flexi-time.
• Strengthen the role of line managers in promoting the mental wellbeing of employees through supportive leadership style and management practices.
Is your employer doing all it can to nurture an environment of mental wellbeing?
Showing posts with label National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Show all posts
Monday, 16 November 2009
Monday, 9 February 2009
What Price Would You Put On A Life?
Have you ever thought about what value you would put on the life of a loved one?
Not a particularly pleasant topic to consider is it?
On Monday of last week (2nd February 2009) a meeting was scheduled to discuss this very topic but unfortunately nature interrupted proceedings and the meeting was cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions. As of today, no re-scheduled date is available.
So who was it that was going to decide what price a life is worth?
Quite simply it was the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
If you haven’t heard of them, NICE work with the NHS to decide what expenditure there can be for all drugs including those for life-threatening conditions.
I am sure you have read or heard numerous stories of patients being denied drugs that could prolong and indeed improve their lives. So how do we put a value on life?
NICE currently use a system called “Quality Adjusted Life Year” or “QALY” for short. Under this system, the values are currently set at between £20,000 and £30,000. Disturbingly, these figures have been in place for over a decade and take no account of inflation or increases in NHS spending.
Patient groups have long argued that the current system is totally inadequate and needs a complete overhaul. Research would indicate that the general public feel the same as they indicate the values to be between £35,000 and £70,000. In addition, the public are confused by how living in one region affects these vital decisions. As an example, late last year, Carol Rummels won the right to have South Glocestershire Primary Care provide Tarceva, a cancer drug which will cost £1,500 per month. This was originally denied by NICE. The stupidity of it all was that if Carol had lived in Scotland, this drug was and still is, available free!
Helen Mason, lead author of a Newcastle University report, has said: "For the first time we have some estimates of what the public values most. While the methods need to be refined, it is important to get the public involved because, after all, it is their money. Quite soon there will be a body of evidence which will influence the way NICE and similar bodies across Europe make decisions."
Let’s hope NICE make the right decisions as it can only be seen as morally wrong of them to deny life-extending drugs to anyone who needs them and systematically impose a death sentence on those most vulnerable within our society.
Not a particularly pleasant topic to consider is it?
On Monday of last week (2nd February 2009) a meeting was scheduled to discuss this very topic but unfortunately nature interrupted proceedings and the meeting was cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions. As of today, no re-scheduled date is available.
So who was it that was going to decide what price a life is worth?
Quite simply it was the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
If you haven’t heard of them, NICE work with the NHS to decide what expenditure there can be for all drugs including those for life-threatening conditions.
I am sure you have read or heard numerous stories of patients being denied drugs that could prolong and indeed improve their lives. So how do we put a value on life?
NICE currently use a system called “Quality Adjusted Life Year” or “QALY” for short. Under this system, the values are currently set at between £20,000 and £30,000. Disturbingly, these figures have been in place for over a decade and take no account of inflation or increases in NHS spending.
Patient groups have long argued that the current system is totally inadequate and needs a complete overhaul. Research would indicate that the general public feel the same as they indicate the values to be between £35,000 and £70,000. In addition, the public are confused by how living in one region affects these vital decisions. As an example, late last year, Carol Rummels won the right to have South Glocestershire Primary Care provide Tarceva, a cancer drug which will cost £1,500 per month. This was originally denied by NICE. The stupidity of it all was that if Carol had lived in Scotland, this drug was and still is, available free!
Helen Mason, lead author of a Newcastle University report, has said: "For the first time we have some estimates of what the public values most. While the methods need to be refined, it is important to get the public involved because, after all, it is their money. Quite soon there will be a body of evidence which will influence the way NICE and similar bodies across Europe make decisions."
Let’s hope NICE make the right decisions as it can only be seen as morally wrong of them to deny life-extending drugs to anyone who needs them and systematically impose a death sentence on those most vulnerable within our society.
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