Carol Black’s review
Dame Carol Black has published
her review of the health of Britain’s
working age population.
Working for a healthier tomorrow, the first ever review of its kind, was presented to the Secretaries of State for Health and for Work and Pensions, Alan Johnson and James Purnell on 17th March 2008.
Call for Evidence
The review was supported by a Call for Evidence launched in October 2007. Responses were invited through this site and supplemented by facilitated discussion events held around Britain, together with local partners. Over 260 responses were received and Dame Carol was very grateful to all who contributed.
Discussion events
Six discussion events were held in November 2007. Health practitioners and businesses met with Government in Sheffield, Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Nottingham to help identify ways to improve people’s health and help more people who develop health problems to remain in or quickly return to work.
Commissioned Research
As part of the review, analyses were commissioned to help build the necessary evidence base, including up-to-date data and research findings to help inform Carol’s findings.
The views expressed in these publications are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Carol Black, Health Work Wellbeing, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive, the Scottish Executive or the Welsh Assembly Government.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were commissioned to consider the wider business case and specifically the economic case for employers to invest in wellness programmes for their staff.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists were commissioned to review the evidence of mental health and work.
Peninsula Medical School were commissioned to undertake a literature review of the evidence base for early intervention in sickness absence
Consensus Statement
An important step in the review process was also the ground-breaking consensus statement signed by more than 30 health professional bodies, including the BMA and RCGP. They pledged to help people enter, stay in or return to work, where appropriate, because it is often in the patients' best interests