Scottish employers have taken the UK top spot when it comes to providing for the health and wellbeing of their staff, recent research has revealed.
The study by PMI Health Group discovered 47 per cent of Scottish employees claim their employers provide benefits targeted towards improving their overall health, an increase of 16 per cent on last year’s survey.
“Although the boost in benefit provision is encouraging, companies in Scotland could still give greater consideration to employee health and wellbeing,” said PMI Health Group director Mike Blake.
“With increasing restrictions in NHS provision, it is in the interests of businesses to minimise the costly impact of sickness absence. Corporate healthcare initiatives can help achieve this while helping to address health inequalities.”
The results put Scotland ahead of companies in East Anglia (46 per cent), closely followed by London businesses (45 per cent) who previously finished top in 2014. Those in the North West fared the worst (26 per cent).
Mike added: “Scotland often suffers from a poor reputation for healthcare provision, given the statistics on obesity and heart disease, which compare unfavourably to the rest of the UK.
“Our survey results show that Scottish employers are starting to take new responsibilities towards helping their staff stay fit and healthy very seriously.”
The increase in health and wellbeing provision for Scottish workers has been reflected in burgeoning levels of satisfaction. The study found that 49 per cent of employees in the region are satisfied with the range of benefits they receive from their employers – up from 25 per cent in 2014.
Workers in London were found to be the most content with 67 per cent happy with their benefits provision.
ENDS
NHS Tayside
Because we all tend to think of it in health terms, we often lose sight of the fact that NHS Tayside is a major force in the local economy. Its spending, either directly on capital projects or indirectly through its staff salaries, sustains many private sector jobs. Its long standing and very successful collaboration with the University of Dundee has been significant in making Dundee a globally recognised leader in life sciences. And its work to improve the health of the population also benefits business, by providing local companies with healthier and, therefore, more productive workers. That is why everyone at DACC is excited about building even stronger links and more effective collaboration with NHS Tayside to create thriving communities across Dundee and Angus.
