Tough Winter Ahead for NHS as Staff Sickness Rates Soar by nearly a Fifth;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNurses and health visitors took 73,209 more sick days in May this year than in the same month in 2019, being an 18% increase, which is being attributed to the pandemic impact. Staff absences for mental health reasons rocketed by 31.4%, up from 102,491 to 134,669, as reported by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), with chest & respiratory absences having soared by 52.5% and headaches & migraines by 51.9%. NHS England has been struggling to fill widespread nursing vacancies, the RCN said. It warned that staff face a difficult winter \u2013 treating the backlog of patients (with current record figures, since records began in 2007, at a registered 5.7 million in the UK, with suspected many millions more waiting to join the official list) whilst simultaneously working upon the Covid booster vaccine programme, with the usual seasonal pressures, including an expected surge in flu patients.\u201d (aided by recent reduced mask wearing, after artificially not being exposed to normal levels of air-borne pathogens)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cover Magazine of 21st<\/sup> October <\/strong><\/em>\u2013 health & protection\u2019s weekly foremost industry journal, had a very interesting article written in association with WPA (Western Provident Association) who are a 100+ year old \u2018not for profit\u2019 health insurance company provider, entitled (article substance<\/em>) \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Nine Myths of Health Insurance\u2019;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data from broker ActiveQuote shows that sales of PMI to first-time customers increased by around 100% on average between the 3 months between November 2020 & January 2021, compared to between March & May 2020. Brian Walters of brokers Regency Health explains; \u201cAlthough it\u2019s true that waiting times to see private consultants are longer than usual, they still pale in comparison to waiting times on the NHS.\u201d People are using their PMI policies to help with cancer diagnosis and treatment \u2013 being an area that the NHS had previously excelled in, with in October 2020 MacMillan Cancer Support estimating that around 50,000 fewer people had been diagnosed in the UK than had been in the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtual appointments with GP\u2019s and consultants facilitated by PMI and without any relaxation in care standards were indispensable during the pandemic. Due to the call on Private Hospital facilities with Covid patient overflow from the NHS, particularly from around May through September of last year 2020, many providers organised premium rebates, with amongst the quickest to respond in this respect being WPA, Bupa & AXA, amongst others, thereby helping to protect customer relationships, with many providers allowing premium break \u2018holidays\u2019 of between 1-3 months, dependant upon financial circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between Jan 1st<\/sup> & March 31st<\/sup> of this year 2021, FOS (Financial Insurance Ombudsman) recorded 422 new complaints about PMI and dental insurance in the UK, however only 16% were upheld \u2013 less than half the average uphold rate for the financial services products industry generally. In many cases insurers were simply declining claims excluded by their policy wordings \u2013 often, for example, because of chronic or pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good insurer trains staff regularly to deal with customers on an individual basis at what is normally a stressful and\/or vulnerable time, looking at challenges on a case by case basis, rather than applying a blanket approach to all claims. (greatly assisted by a customer-centric broker of course \u2013 Such as Surrey Circle Health!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern PMI offers online GP consultation, therapies including physio, aftercare including home nursing, preventative programmes and information, incentivisation and rewarding of a healthy, non-claiming, lifestyle, as well as a plethora of helplines to complement NHS advice. Paul Roberts of IHC intermediary emphasises that much of this evolution has come about from simply \u201clistening\u201d to customers. Paul continues \u2013 \u201cinsurers add value by being advocates for the general health of individual and business customers, providing them with choice and support. Technology has made healthcare more accessible to customers, enabling them to access treatment or support in a new, digital and modern way. Covid-19 has also helped boost the productivity of free preventative physical and wellbeing facilities accessible from home, often via an App offering everything from stress helplines and virtual counselling services to physiotherapy \u2018join-along\u2019 videos, with the new industry buzz-word of \u2018hybrid-care\u2019 being very much to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaingBuisson \u2018Health Cover Market Report of 2020\u2019 states that 77.6% of PMI policies are paid for by employers which significantly boosts the younger aged profile of insured members. Companies of all sizes are increasingly appreciating that it\u2019s ability to slash absenteeism, as well as presenteeism costs, means that it has major benefits for the employer as well as the employee. With PMI enabling the employee to choose to have consultations and operations at times that fit in with their own and their colleagues\u2019 workloads, offering them access to a range of wellness benefits that can boost productivity by keeping them fit & healthy over the longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evolution of health insurance over the past decade has seen a myriad of value-added services brought in and are bolted on to traditional health insurance policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Roberts (as quoted earlier) of IHR intermediary explains \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s unfair to label PMI policies as vague. The truth is there are hundreds of different styles of policies on offer across a range of different types of insurers that have been set up to serve a variety of businesses and individuals of all ages and income. These policies are designed to be able to support their clients in their time of need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlie MacEwan of WPA says \u201cThe point of a health insurance policy is to claim if you are ill. Key is that the mechanics of a no claims discount are explained and thoroughly understood before the purchase, as postponing or even cancelling a PMI claim that could lead to NCD repercussions on your policy renewal, which could completely undermine the whole concept of taking out cover. \u201cThis issue is particularly egregious where the claims related increase outweighs the cost of the claim itself, which calls into question whether the product is delivering fair value to customers,\u201d as quoted from Brian Walters of Regency Health brokers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Edward Watling of Mottloli Woods brokerage says \u201ccar & buildings insurance is mandatory by law, yet no-one actually wants to crash their car or see their house burn down, and similarly PMI policies are<\/p>\n\n\n\n not wasted if you don\u2019t use them.\u201d Regarding company paid PMI in employee empowerment, WPA\u2019s Sharon Shier says \u2013 \u201cBusinesses need a tailored programme that helps them attract and retain the best people though this benefit and as part of an overall remuneration package.\u201d Usually employees can personalise care from flexible modular policies according to their individual preferences, with cover also sometimes extending to family members, thereby affording the employee more focus on the job when a member of their family is unwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arguably, if a customer has an ongoing condition that is flaring up currently, they are requiring insurance for a \u2018known\u2019 event, which is not the purpose of PMI. However, if it is a condition that has been under control for a long period of time, controlled with medication, there is an open conversation to be had with an insurer, according to as previously quoted Edward Watling of Mattloli Woods brokers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The outlook is applied to hundreds of chronic conditions by insurers. Take cancer; although cancer often becomes chronic, most PMI policies no longer exclude it when it does. Millions who have suffered from other common chronic conditions \u2013 such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy or bad backs \u2013 may also be able to obtain cover for everything apart from the condition in question, and sometimes even the condition itself, subject to certain restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to finding a suitably underwritten policy for the specific medical needs and requirements of each client is to use a skilled advisor who can search for the best provider, whilst teasing out the demands and needs of the customer, without making assumptions about the condition. Experience of having dealt with a huge number of different scenarios, understanding what is and what is not possible, is essential to securing a suitable policy for the client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reducing the need to get information from GP\u2019s at the claims stage, which in the past could take 1\/2 weeks, has been a particularly interesting development within the past decade, allowing many decisions to be virtually instantaneous. For example, many insurers now create a \u2018dynamic form\u2019, which goes straight to the specialist with specific questions needing clarification, cutting out the need to see the claimant\u2019s entire medical records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most insurers have automated claims technology, augmenting the customer service team\u2019s decisions, with many customer phone or online App claim decisions made immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the wake of Covid-19, the pressure for health insurers to move quickly, making the claims process smoother is ongoing, with KPMG, the leading accountancy firm, even describing the pandemic as \u201cthe wake-up call that the industry needed.\u201d The shift to digital channels and products is ongoing with WPA\u2019s George Dowse-Brenan admitting that \u201cthere is still plenty more to come \u2013 although this will never be at the expense of keeping health insurance personal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I trust that you found those articles fascinating! \u2013 So in summary for this month, what with the critical pressures upon our dear hard-working NHS nurses coupled with WPA\u2019s compelling myth-busting review, why don\u2019t you invest as little as 10 minutes of your time to have a \u2018Healthcare Review\u2019 phone conversation with myself where I would detail your current circumstances, ie cover\/not, premium, benefit levels, relevant claims, budget, likes & dislikes \u2013 Subsequently providing marketplace Quotes along-with professional recommendations, as well as providing a comprehensively detailed \u2018pros & cons\u2019 analysis? Of course it\u2019s completely free of charge & without any obligation whatsoever \u2013 You might just be glad you did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until the last month of 2021 dear Surrey Circle Health \u2018Health News\u2019 reader, please continue to take care, wrapping up as winter chills start to bite, with many now having had 6 month\u2019s immunity since their second jab, getting that 3rd<\/sup> winter booster one to top up their protection. With other parts of planet experiencing a resurgence, let\u2019s hope & trust that daily figures remain \u2018under control.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kind regards,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel Donoghue, <\/em> Welcome to another month SCH reader! Where has this year almost gone? (especially compared to the far more \u2018surreal\u2019 2020) With autumn oh so soon turning [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,15,16,28,40],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bupa","tag-health","tag-health-news","tag-nhs-treatment","tag-times-newspaper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1} Waste of money during <\/em>the pandemic<\/em>:<\/em> <\/em>\u2013<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2} Never put customers first<\/em>:<\/em> \u2013<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3} <\/em>Only ever covers the<\/em> <\/em>costs <\/em>of treatments<\/em>:<\/em> \u2013<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4} <\/em>Only appeals to rich, older <\/em>people:-<\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5)<\/em> <\/em>Options vague, <\/em>unuseful<\/em> on an individual <\/em>basis:-<\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6) <\/em>Rising premiums <\/em>& the need to protect no claims discounts can prevent <\/em>claiming<\/em>:-<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7) <\/em>Most options wasteful & benefits often not <\/em>applicable to <\/em>employees:-<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8) <\/em>Difficult to get if you have complex <\/em>medical <\/em>history:-<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
9) <\/em>Insurers are<\/em> slow & complicated to do business <\/em>with:-<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
MD, Surrey Circle Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bbc.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"