A national strategy to establish Britain’s first Workplace Health System has been unveiled, aimed at stopping 300,000 people a year from leaving their jobs due to long-term illness. The “Keep Britain Working: a national growth opportunity” report, published on 23 September 2026, details a cross-departmental plan to address the £212 billion annual cost of ill health to the UK economy.
The initiative arrives as official figures reveal that 2.8 million working-age people are currently economically inactive due to long-term sickness, an increase of 800,000 since 2019. The new system is designed to act as a preventive bridge, focusing on keeping people in employment rather than the purely clinical focus of the National Health Service.
National Vanguards and Testing
The proposed system is already being tested through a network of 11 regional “Vanguards” and 200 organisations across the country. These pilot areas include Cornwall Council, Hull City Council, and Worcestershire City Council, where local authorities and businesses are working to integrate health support directly into the workplace environment.
The programme is a joint project between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It is co-chaired by Sir Charlie Mayfield, the former chair of the John Lewis Partnership, alongside the respective Secretaries of State.
According to Healthcare Management Magazine, the strategy seeks to create a more formalised structure for occupational health, which has historically been inconsistent across different sectors and regions.
Support for Small Businesses
A significant portion of the plan focuses on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which often lack the resources to provide comprehensive occupational health services. To bridge this gap, the government plans to offer “pooled” insurance and collective buying routes. This model is intended to make professional health support more affordable for smaller employers by spreading the risk and cost across multiple organisations.
The strategy also includes the development of a new “Healthy Working Lifecycle” standard in partnership with the British Standards Institution (BSI). This will provide a framework for employers to manage the health of their staff from recruitment through to retirement.
Data and Monitoring
To ensure the effectiveness of the system, a new Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU) will be established. This body will be responsible for tracking sickness absence trends and, crucially, monitoring return-to-work outcomes to see which interventions are most successful in keeping staff in their roles.
While the initial testing is confined to the 11 Vanguard regions, the report sets out a roadmap for a national rollout.
