Four in 10 employers say long NHS waiting lists will have a “high impact” on the design of their benefits strategy while for a third the situation has already hit their provision.
The Benefits Design Research 2023: Adapting to external and internal business change from Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing and the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) was carried out among 210 employers during January and February 2023.
Among its key findings were that 42% of respondents said access to NHS health services would have a high impact on benefits strategy in 2023, with 32% disclosing it had a high impact between 2020 and 2022.
The vast majority (82%) said they expected the cost of living crisis to have a high impact on benefits strategy in 2023, with 48% saying it had a high impact between 2020 and 2022.
The report also showed 54% of respondents planned to introduce new wellbeing technology in the next two years, while more than a third (34%) said it required “significant attention”.
Matthew Gregson, executive director UK corporate at Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing, (pictured) said the various crises the UK had negotiated in recent years including Brexit, the pandemic and cost of living pressures had two significant impacts on the workplace.
“They have increased employee expectations of their employees and how they will support them, especially in the healthcare space, and employers have seen the negative impacts of health and absence issues like never before,” he said.
“As a result, employers have been looking to the gaps in their benefits programmes, when it comes to health, protection and wellbeing, and looking at the appropriate ways to fill them, especially for lower grade employees, who historically have not been entitled to such benefits.
“This has been seen across various aspects of healthcare services and needs, where NHS provision has been impacted by those abovementioned crises.
“In primary care employers have been increasing the availability of virtual GP services, to ensure swift consultations, in dental care, where there are fewer and fewer NHS dental practices and slots available, moving to company-sponsored dental cover or insurance, and in physiotherapy and other low cost-high impact treatments, which can improve return to work and productivity.
“All-in-all, with so many options and services now available for the workplace, employers need most to understand the health needs of their workforce and map that to the right combination of solutions, many often low cost, in order to target the areas that most impact their business.”