Health, wealth and work: why people in Wales are on the sick

Recently there have been three vital statements on health and the workforce. Our Director, Victoria Winckler, considers what we’re to make of this news.

The Bevan Foundation contributes a monthly column to Wales’ leading, independent business news website, Business News Wales. The website has more than 250,000 monthly visitors across all sectors of the Welsh economy, enabling the Bevan Foundation to reach deep into the business community.

This month, Victoria Winckler provides insights around sickness in Wales and the impact this will have on the Welsh economy.

As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a crack-down on the so-called ‘sick note culture’, Welsh Government statistics also showed that one in five people in Wales were waiting for NHS treatment. Alongside this, the Health Foundation have issued a stark warning that rising inequalities could see more people of working age living with major illnesses by 2040.

Victoria highlights that there urgently needs to be investment in community-based health care to manage common health conditions and, in the longer term, there needs to be urgent action to prevent illness in the first place. 

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