Today in Britain we face a number of crises concerning health. The more obvious ones are the recent strikes within the health service, Nursing Staff, Emergency Services, Radiologists and quite recently Junior Doctors and Consultants.
The NHS gained huge respect for their efforts during the covid crisis and even with the strikes, many of the general population felt their cause of a higher pay rise had merit. Unfortunately the paymasters (The Government) decided the country couldn’t afford more than was offered.
Just as an army apparently fights on its stomach, a good and efficient health service is needed to keep a nations people fit, healthy and as able as possible to actively engage in society.
For a business, whether a small or large organisation requires a healthy workforce and supply chain. Even a sole trader needs flexibility to get orders delivered or collected by others. It requires an element of team work.
The challenges facing the NHS are huge, not least the numbers facing a long wait for treatment, the ever increasing demands for help from a workforce still recovering from the pandemic and new treatments and technology that require a lot of investment cash. Many of us will have some great experiences and maybe some not so wonderful of the NHS.
As an outsider, it appears the staff issues are long in the making. Pay has been a challenge for years. Stopping people leaving faster than they can be replaced requires a fresh approach, looking at ways to deliver services more effectively with some changes to terms and conditions may be a way forward, possibly with extra cash. Getting some of the 600,000 back to work who have long term illnesses could be a good start in helping fund these changes.
There also is the long term view, The Social Market Foundation have highlighted in a recent report some of the key reasons as a Nation we are not as healthy as we were. Habits such as smoking, drinking and lack of exercise are thought to account for nearly 40% of all premature deaths.
These habits often lead to a need for intervention by the NHS. By attempting to reduce the bad habits and promoting more exercise, demand on the NHS will reduce. Less pressure will allow them to handle better the future demands for their services and help promote better health and bring into play newer technologies.
A business has to constantly monitor its financial health. If we have employees we have a duty to pay them fairly but also consider their general well-being. Happy employees in studies have been found to be more productive than those who are not. Happiness isn’t just about the wages, it can be the environment they work in, the nature of the business, their fellow employees, desks, lighting and perhaps more importantly how they think they are thought of.
As a business its also important to look at how you treat your customers. Customer care is what people are very sensitive too, important to get this right as often as possible, as some Banks have found out recently.
Health is something we often take for granted, but as a nation we need to look after our health and do what we can to limit our demands on the NHS if it can be avoided, by changes in lifestyle.
For a business, a regular review of business processes and methodologies should assist in keeping the health of that business, as good as it possibly could be. Focus on good business habits not the less healthy ones.
At Everyday Business Support we offer packages to help small businesses do just that. Either 6 or 10 sessions can be arranged to discuss your needs and put you on the path to great business health. Get in touch for more details on how we can assist.
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