NHS trusts failing to tackle staff obesity

The findings come from the first national audit within the NHS of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) public health guidance for the workplace. Implementation of the NICE guidance was recommended by the Boorman Review1 which found clear associations between better staff health and wellbeing and reduced MRSA rates, lower standardised mortality rates and increased patient satisfaction.

Today’s audit report also found that trusts were failing to follow NICE guidance on physical activity, with only 32% of the participant organisations having a plan or policy to encourage and support staff to be more physically active.

The audit, co-funded by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, assessed data from 282 NHS trusts responsible for close to 900,000 NHS employees in England. When NHS trusts had engaged staff and assessed their needs, the audit found they were more likely to have taken actions to improve employee health and wellbeing.

Other key findings include:

• less than one in three of the participating trusts offered evidence based weight management programmes for their staff
• just 31% of trusts promoted healthy options for staff in their shops
• out of the 42 trusts that did have a plan or policy for tackling staff obesity, only 13 measured uptake of any programmes by different staff groups such as by grade, gender or ethnicity.

A Department of Health report published in 2009 estimated that of the 1.2 million staff in the NHS, approximately 300,000 would be classified as obese and a further 400,000 as overweight.[i] In addition, a 2009 Ipsos Mori poll found that 37% of the public would not accept health advice from a healthcare professional who appeared to have an unhealthy lifestyle.[ii]

Dr Sian Williams, Director of the RCP’s Health and Work Development Unit said:

The results are very disappointing. There is a growing body of evidence to prove that employers who look after their employees will see a more efficient workforce. Trusts that implement the NICE workplace guidance can expect healthier and more productive staff and better patient outcomes as a result.

Patients expect health professionals to practice what they preach and trusts need to implement the best management practices to maintain the health of their staff.

Commenting on the audit report, Dr Richard Preece, clinical lead for the audit and consultant in occupational medicine at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

The credibility of health messages is supported by the lifestyles of health professionals, for example in the reduction and current low levels of smoking among doctors. NHS trusts need to take staff health and wellbeing seriously to ensure productivity at a time when there is increased pressure to make efficiency savings.

The Boorman Review[iii] called for staff health and well-being to be embedded in the core business of NHS organisations and the audit delivers a picture of the situation across the board in the service.

Following the audit report’s publication, a series of events have been arranged by the RCP to help trusts improve their management practices in relation to staff health and wellbeing.

A full copy of the report will be available to download from 9am on Tuesday 12 April from the clinical resources section of the RCP website.

For further information, please contact Andrew McCracken, RCP Communications and New Media Adviser, on +44 (0)203 075 1354 / 07990 745 608, or email andrew.mccracken@rcplondon.ac.uk

[i] Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On, Department of Health, 2009.

[ii] Fitness to practise. The health of health care professionals, Ipsos MORI, 2009.

[iii] NHS health and wellbeing review, Dr Steve Boorman, Department of Health, 2009.