18th May 2011 The 7th FirstCare User Group Meeting

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The 7th FirstCare User Group meeting was a fantastic success, with representatives present from both our private and public sector clients.

As we have grown so have our clients and their needs, and this meeting was an ideal opportunity to gather useful data to help plan our development roadmap and shape absence management in the UK.

Located at Simpson’s on the Strand, the event attracted 60 delegates including representatives from the DWP who are conducting the review into sickness absence on behalf of Dame Carol Black and David Frost.

In addition to a discussion around absence trends identified by the FirstCare database and investigation of over 5 million days lost, we also held two workshops focusing on reducing anxiety/mental health related absences and reducing musculoskeletal (MSK) absences.

Workshop 1: Musculoskeletal Absences

  • Three tables discussed how to reduce MSK absences. Using data from the FirstCare system it is apparent that MSK accounts for 1 in every 5 days lost.
  • Clients shared experiences of using services such as Fast-Track physiotherapy, Back Track devices, manual handling training and early intervention.
  • These services and the focus clients are putting on tackling MSK absence is already having an effect, as MSK is the only absence category to stay constant despite all others increasing.
  • All delegates involved in the MSK workshop agreed that MSK absences would remain a key priority for 2011/2012 and a number of clients will report back to the next user group on various initiatives they are conducting.
  • FirstCare pledged to work with clients to reduce the average length of an MSK absence by one day by May 2012.

Workshop 2: Mental Health Absences

  • The other three tables discussed how to reduce mental health absences. It was agreed that consistency in conducting a return to work interview is paramount.
  • Many managers are not trained to recognise stress or to conduct risk assessments, and it was noted that in some cases, training provided by an external party was beneficial.
  • Non-medical absences such as bereavement often become mental health absences upon presentation of a fit note from the GP. Which raised the question:
    • Is it fair to classify these as medical mental health absences as the process of grieving only becomes medical when someone is stuck at one stage of the process?

    -It was acknowledged that it is important to record non-medical absences to ensure that there were no trends being missed.
    -And finally, it was agreed that where an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is in place, it is often not used to its full potential. In most cases clients with EAP’s have higher levels of mental health absences. Most delegates believed this could be due to complacency of managers and HR functions.
    -FirstCare pledged to work with clients to reduce the average days lost to mental health by two days by May 2012.

Delegate Feedback

A delegate satisfaction survey was distributed at the end of the user group with overwhelmingly positive results. Every respondent considered the event successful and found the content useful and informative. Everyone also indicated that they would like to attend again.

This was the first user group we have held in London and with 77% of survey respondents indicating that London is their ideal location we plan to hold the next user group on the 9th of November 2011 in central London again. However we will hold one of the 2012 user groups in either Birmingham or Leeds.

We look forward to seeing you there next time.