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Healthy staff means a healthy business for Doncaster Chamber

A Westfield Health cash plan has helped Doncaster Chamber of Commerce cut its absence rate “dramatically” and saved the organisation thousands of pounds in annual sick pay.

Doncaster Chamber, which has supported local business members for 70 years, has described the benefits of the Chamber Primary Health Plan as “far outweighing” the cost.

The Chamber plays an active part in the health and wellbeing of its staff after implementing a number of health initiatives in the last two years.

HR & Procedures Manager Caroline Bond was appointed the organisation’s ‘Wellbeing Champion’ and has subsequently overseen initiatives including health MoTs – where staff were assessed on measures including blood pressure and cholesterol levels – taking part in a walking festival and having their posture checked by a chiropractor.

“To look at staff you would have assumed that most of them were fairly fit,” said Caroline. “But the health MoT revealed that there were quite a few areas for improvement.

“We found we had people with high cholesterol or who were overweight or not exercising regularly enough and it served as a wake-up call for some people.

“After that first annual health MoT nearly everyone made some sort of lifestyle change and by the next assessment things had improved while our absence level had dropped. One lady had lost four stone and given up smoking, others had been concerned about their blood pressure and went to the GP for advice.”

Doncaster Chamber also offers Westfield Health’s Chamber Plan, which enables staff to claim money back towards the cost of everyday healthcare, and the plan has been credited with contributing to the positive changes at the Chamber.

Caroline said: “We brought in a Chamber member who was a chiropractor to monitor how people were sitting at their desks. As a result some people had chiropractic treatment and claimed this back on their Westfield plan. No-one had been claiming on this benefit before.
 
“It’s a good health plan and people really value it. Staff use it for the obvious everyday healthcare such as eye tests and dental treatment, which is good as it makes sure everyone is getting regular check-ups, and they may not without those benefits.

“The plan is also a preventative measure. Back pain and stress are two of the biggest causes of absence so to have benefits like chiropractic and counselling is really useful from a company point of view.

“It’s not just the physical side of wellbeing that’s important – if you are happy and healthy in mind, then you are in body and vice versa. A company providing access to a counselling benefit is a great support for the employee.

“The plan has helped us to reduce sickness absence dramatically, too – we are now at our lowest ever absence rate – and we are therefore saving thousands of pounds in sick pay each year.

“The cost of the Chamber Plan is far outweighed by the benefits.”

Doncaster Chamber has also spread the word about Westfield’s Chamber Plan beyond its own workforce.

Caroline said: “When we are looking to recruit, our advertising states that the Westfield plan is provided as a staff benefit and we get good feedback on that from potential candidates.

“We encourage our members to join, too. As a Chamber, we are not just advising ‘this is what you should do’, we are saying ‘we are already doing this and are seeing cash benefits as a result’.”

Daniel Fell, the Chamber’s Head of Policy, said: “Doncaster is a great place to do business but we must also recognise that our economy faces some significant challenges. One of these is the comparatively poor health of residents, compared with the national average, and the impact that this can have on businesses in the town.

“As such, it is important that businesses take a proactive stance on staff wellbeing to ensure that, in what remain difficult economic times, they are not adding an unnecessary burden or cost to their business through the ill health and consequent underperformance of staff.”

Doncaster Chamber Patron Member Doncaster Rovers Football Club are also noticing the positive effects of their Westfield Health cash plan, which they introduced a year ago.

All of the club’s backroom staff are currently covered by the Chamber Plan, with its optical and dental benefits proving to be the most popular.
Dave Morris, Chief Executive of Doncaster Rovers, said: “The plan provides a diversity of benefits for our workforce and allows us to give something back. For a company dedicated to sport and fitness, it’s rewarding for us to help provide an added incentive for our staff to stay in shape.
“Westfield Health’s Chamber Plan was recommended to us and it turned out to be the best deal for staff. Our low absenteeism rate shows that our partnership with Westfield is really working and we therefore feel it is excellent value for money. Doncaster Rovers staff really appreciate having it, too.”
Westfield Health Senior Business Development Consultant Zoe Wildsmith said: “The Chamber Primary Health Plan has been designed and developed in conjunction with the British Chambers of Commerce to meet the needs of businesses by helping to support their sickness absence strategies, improve staff morale, and give recruitment and retention a boost.
“Doncaster Chamber’s experiences demonstrate perfectly how the plan is an effective absence and risk management tool, while also offering healthcare benefits and services that are popular with employees.”
The Chamber Plan’s cash benefits include dental and dental trauma, optical, therapy treatments (physiotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy and osteopathy), consultation, chiropody and personal accident. Employees can claim money back towards the cost of treatment, up to set limits.

The plan also offers a range of health and wellbeing services, including diagnostic scanning, an online personal health risk assessment and DoctorLine, which provides access to telephone consultations with fully qualified GPs at any time.

In addition, the plan includes an employee assistance programme, which provides access to a 24-hour counselling and advice line and up to six face-to-face counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy sessions.

Four levels of cover are available – £1.10, £2.20, £4.25 or £6.35 per employee, per week - providing 100 per cent reimbursement on all cash benefits, up to set limits. No medical is required to join and all pre-existing medical conditions are covered for employees (except Personal Accident cover).

For more information, please visit www.westfieldhealth.com/chamber or call 0845 602 1629, available 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

Wesfield Health

Zoe from Westfield Health and Caroline from Doncaster Chamber

Doncaster Rovers

(L-R) Doncaster Rovers Commercial Executive Andrew Whitham, Westfield Health Senior Business Development Consultant Zoe Wildsmith and Dave Morris Chief Executive of Doncaster Rovers