Dundee City Council says £131,000 occupational health scheme is a good deal
Dundee City Council has spent £131,000 to help create a ''positive health and wellbeing culture'' for its employees.
Dundee City Council's headquarters.
- By Craig McManamon
- Published in the Courier : 13.02.12
- Published online : 13.02.12 @ 09.25am
The cash-strapped local authority, which last week agreed to £3.5m budget savings, has awarded a three-year contract to the Hampshire-based company Serco to manage its occupational health service.
The service, which is commonplace in private and public sector organisations, can help in the recovery of council employees signed off with a work-related illness as well as oversee the council's absence and stress management operations.
Serco, which it is claimed will maximise the attendance as well as help reduce stress among the authority's 6,106-strong workforce, is already employed by Perth and Kinross Council.
Although the six-figure sum may, on the face of it, seem steep given the financial constraints on local authorities, it works out at around £21 per employee over the three years — a figure the council claims is good value for money.
A spokesman said: ''The value of the contract was arrived at through a rigorous process of competitive tender to achieve the best combination of service quality and price. It is for three years with the option of two more.
''Dundee City Council is committed to reducing sickness absence rates among its employees and since a new sickness absence policy was introduced last year there has been a marked improvement in attendance records across the city council.
''Over a 12-month period, the average number of days lost per employee had dropped from 13.7 to 11.2. The total number of days lost has also gone down from 75,326 to 61,249.
''Serco will be providing advice and services on all aspects of occupational health including, pre-employment health questionnaires and examinations, fitness for work medicals, advice on reasonable work adjustments, aids and adaptations for illness and/or disability and specialists to inform employment decisions, absence management and ill health early retirement cases.''
Unison secretary for the Perth and Kinross branch Grant Mackie said he has not had any problem with Serco since Perth and Kinross Council signed up to its services. But, he added, spending £130,000 for its services in Dundee was a lot of money.
''It is a service which I believe is needed,'' said Mr Mackie. ''If someone is off with a stress-related illness or another work-related illness, the occupational health team do come back with decent proposals to aid their recovery.
''I don't look at this in a monetary way but in a human way and anything that helps someone get back on their feet is a good thing.
''But I do want to stress that spending £130,000 on this is a lot of money, especially in these times when local authorities across the country are finding it tough.''
Per head, Fife Council pays significantly less for its occupational health scheme than its counterpart across the Tay.
But Sharon McKenzie, head of HR for Fife Council, says the figures are not necessarily comparable.
She said: ''Occupational health packages can cover a range of things and different councils may have different arrangements in place that aren't easily compared.
''Fife Council has a three-year contract with Dura Diamond to provide occupational health services for our 22,000 employees, including pre-employment health screening, health surveillance for employees in certain jobs and medical referrals, at a cost of £330,000. This equates to around £15 per person over three years, a cost we balance with the importance of keeping our employees healthy and at work.''
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