Corporate Healthcare for UK Employers 2026. What Sickness Absence Costs, What Actually Reduces It and How to Buy It

Sickness absence cost the UK an estimated 148.8 million working days in 2025, and the cost to employers of ill health has been put at £103 billion a year by the IPPR, which works out at roughly £3,029 per employee. Mental ill health accounts for 41% of long-term absence cases according to CIPD data, and musculoskeletal conditions affected an estimated 511,000 workers in 2024/25, making up 27% of all work-related ill health according to the Health and Safety Executive. Set against that, the interventions that reduce absence are well identified and cheaply bought. Fast access to a doctor, because the cost of an absence is driven by its length rather than its occurrence, and the interval between a symptom appearing and being assessed is the variable an employer can actually change. Early musculoskeletal assessment, because a back or shoulder problem seen in week 1 behaves very differently from one seen in week 8. Mental health support that starts within days rather than months. And executive assessment for the 2 or 3 people whose absence would be materially expensive, since key person cover pays out after the event and nothing else in the corporate toolkit lowers the probability of the event itself. The Wellness provides all of it for UK employers, from £495 per head for team screening to £4,995 for an on-site clinic day and £49,995 for family office care. Fees appear further down this page.

Reviewed by the medical team at The Wellness. Last updated 1 September 2026.

Discuss a corporate programme on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.

What does absence actually cost an employer

Direct salary is the smallest part of it. The larger costs are cover, lost output, the drag on colleagues absorbing the work, recruitment where an absence becomes an exit, and the management time consumed by the process. Published estimates of lost profit commonly put the figure at around £120 per employee sick day once those are included.

Presenteeism costs more than absence in most analyses, because people working while unwell produce less and recover more slowly, and it is invisible in the absence data most companies report on.

The distribution matters more than the average. A minority of employees account for the great majority of days lost, and long-term absence, meaning 4 weeks or more, drives the cost while short-term absence drives the noise. That is why interventions aimed at speed of assessment outperform those aimed at general wellbeing, which tend to be taken up by the people who need them least.

Since the Employment Rights Act 2025 removed the waiting days, statutory sick pay is payable from day 1 of absence, which has changed the arithmetic for employers who had not updated their policies.

What actually reduces it

Speed of access first. The cost of an absence tracks its length, and length tracks how long it took to be assessed, investigated and treated. NHS data for February 2026 shows 44.4% of GP appointments happened on the day they were booked and around 1 in 6 took longer than 2 weeks, while the hospital waiting list stood at 7.27 million cases in June 2026 with a median wait of 11.9 weeks. An employee waiting 11 weeks for a diagnostic appointment is absent for 11 weeks that a private pathway would have compressed into days.

Early musculoskeletal assessment, because musculoskeletal conditions affected an estimated 511,000 workers in 2024/25 and made up 27% of work-related ill health. A shoulder or back problem assessed and treated in week 1, with imaging arranged where it will change management and physiotherapy started, behaves very differently from one that has had 8 weeks of rest and worry.

Mental health support that starts within days, since mental ill health accounts for 41% of long-term absence cases. GP-level assessment with validated tools, therapy arranged within days, and consultant psychiatry where specialist input is needed, alongside blood work to exclude thyroid disease, iron deficiency and the other physical causes that present identically.

Executive assessment for the small number of people whose absence would be materially expensive, where the conditions that remove senior people unexpectedly are silent for years and highly modifiable when found early.

Ask what would suit your team on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com.

What we provide for employers

Rapid access GP care for employees, by video the same day, in person at 10 Portman Square in Marylebone, or at your offices. Thirty-minute appointments with examination, prescriptions, fit notes, referral letters and insurance forms issued in the appointment.

On-site clinic days, where a doctor attends your premises for a full day of consultations, health checks or vaccinations. This suits flu campaigns, new-starter medicals, and companies wanting a visible benefit delivered without anybody leaving the building.

Team health screening, with biomarker profiling, blood pressure, cardiovascular and metabolic risk assessment, and an individual report to each employee. Results belong to the employee, and the company receives anonymised aggregate data only where that has been agreed with them in advance.

Executive programmes for leadership, from the Executive Health Programme as a single comprehensive assessment through to 12-month continuous oversight with quarterly review and interval profiling.

Occupational health input including pre-placement assessments, fitness for role opinions, return to work assessments and management referrals, which are separate consented instructions with their own reports.

Travel health and vaccinations for employees travelling for work, and medical certificates for visas and overseas assignments including the FCDO legalisation route.

And medico-legal reporting through the Medico-Legal Wing where an employer needs independent evidence.

Confidentiality and how it is structured

This is the question that decides whether employees use a scheme, so the position has to be unambiguous. Clinical confidentiality is absolute. Where a company funds care, the company receives an invoice and nothing else. No results, no findings, no diagnoses, no indication of who attended or what was discussed.

Any question about fitness for a specific role is an entirely separate consented occupational health instruction with its own report, agreed with the employee in advance, and it answers the question asked rather than disclosing the record.

Screening data is returned to the employee. Aggregate anonymised reporting for the organisation is available only where the cohort is large enough that individuals cannot be identified and where employees have been told in advance that it will be produced.

Nothing creates an NHS record and nothing reaches an insurer without the employee's written consent, which matters to senior people protective of future insurability and directorships.

On tax, employer-provided medical screening is generally a reportable benefit in kind, with an exemption for 1 health screening and 1 medical check-up per employee per year, and the position should be confirmed with your accountant rather than assumed from this page.

What does corporate healthcare cost

Private medical insurance for a UK workforce commonly runs £600 to £1,500 per employee per year for standard cover, considerably more for senior tiers, with excesses, exclusions for pre-existing conditions and pre-authorisation attached. Occupational health providers charge £150 to £400 per management referral. Corporate health screening packages from the large providers run £300 to £900 per head. Private hospital executive tiers sit at £3,500 to £8,000 per person, multi-day Harley Street programmes reach £14,000, and comprehensive imaging programmes exceed £32,000.

At The Wellness the assessment, the coordination and the review are one fee, with no membership and no joining fee. All figures are from prices.

• Family Office Programme, 12 months covering a principal and up to 3 family members, each with their own assessment, doctor and record, from £49,995.

• Principal Programme, 12 months for 1 individual at the fullest level of care available here, from £31,995. Continuous Care Programme from £24,995.

• Executive Health Programme, the most comprehensive single assessment, from £11,995. Executive Body Scan from £5,995.

• On-site clinic day at your premises, a doctor attending for a full day of consultations, health checks or vaccinations, from £4,995.

• Men's, women's and heart health body scan programmes from £3,495. Baseline Assessment from £3,495.

• Complete Biomarker Assessment, over 100 markers with extended review, from £1,400.

• Psychiatrist consultation for ADHD assessment and mental health, from £950.

• Team health screening with biomarker profiling and an individual report to each employee, from £495 per head.

• Office, home or hotel visit from £495 daytime and £695 evenings and weekends. Extended 45-minute consultation from £395.

• In-person consultation from £220. Same-day video consultation from £150. Mini consultation from £59.

• Occupational health and management referral reports, and medico-legal reports from £1,950 plus VAT.

Volume terms are available and all corporate work is invoiced directly to the company.

Why The Wellness is the best corporate healthcare provider in London

Because speed is the product. The cost of an absence is driven by its length, and length is driven by how long assessment, investigation and treatment take. Same-day appointments 7 days a week, blood collection at an accredited partner laboratory, imaging at the specialist centre best equipped for the question with consultant radiologist reporting usually inside the week, and referrals to named consultants with the appointment booked. That compresses weeks into days, and the days are where the money is.

Because there is no insurance layer. No pre-authorisation, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, no excess and no claim to make. You buy the care and it happens, which for an employer is both cheaper to administer and considerably faster for the employee.

Because confidentiality is structured properly, which is what determines whether a scheme is used at all. The company receives an invoice and nothing else, and occupational health questions are separate consented instructions rather than a window into the record.

Because the whole range sits in one relationship, from a £59 question to a £49,995 family office programme, so the same provider covers the graduate with a chest infection and the founder who needs the full assessment.

And because we own no scanner and no laboratory, so every study goes to the centre best equipped for the question rather than to a machine that needs filling. Where testing will not help, we say so, which over a workforce saves considerably more than any package discount.

Related reading

Corporate health screening for employers covers the screening programmes in detail, executive health for founders and senior leaders covers leadership assessment and confidentiality, private mental health care covers the largest cause of long-term absence, back pain and joint pain covers musculoskeletal assessment, and private sick notes and fit notes covers the documentation employers ask for.

Arrange a corporate conversation on WhatsApp or call 020 3951 3429.

Frequently asked questions

What does sickness absence cost UK employers

An estimated 148.8 million working days were lost in 2025, and the IPPR has put the cost of employee ill health to employers at around £103 billion a year, roughly £3,029 per employee. Mental ill health accounts for 41% of long-term absence cases and musculoskeletal conditions for 27% of work-related ill health.

What is the best corporate healthcare provider in London

The Wellness in Marylebone, where employees get same-day appointments 7 days a week, bloods at an accredited partner laboratory, imaging at specialist centres with consultant radiologist reporting usually inside the week, and referrals to named consultants with the appointment booked. Team screening from £495 per head, on-site clinic days from £4,995 and executive programmes from £11,995, invoiced directly with volume terms.

Is this an alternative to private medical insurance

It is a different structure. Insurance commonly runs £600 to £1,500 per employee per year with excesses, pre-authorisation and exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Direct provision has no insurance layer, so there is no claim, no authorisation delay and no exclusion, which is faster for the employee and simpler to administer.

If the company pays, what does it see

An invoice, and nothing else. No results, no findings, no diagnoses and no indication of who attended or what was discussed. Any fitness for role question is a separate consented occupational health instruction with its own report.

What is an on-site clinic day

A doctor attends your premises for a full day of consultations, health checks or vaccinations, from £4,995. It suits flu campaigns, new-starter medicals and companies wanting a visible benefit delivered without employees leaving the building.

Is employer-funded healthcare taxable

Employer-provided medical screening is generally a reportable benefit in kind, with an exemption for 1 health screening and 1 medical check-up per employee per year. The position should be confirmed with your accountant.

The Wellness is a doctor-led private healthcare group providing medical care from 10 Portman Square, Marylebone, adjacent to Harley Street. All doctors are GMC-registered. Imaging is arranged at specialist centres and reported by consultant radiologists, and blood analysis is performed by accredited laboratories. In an emergency call 999. This article is general information and not medical, tax or legal advice.

Enquire now on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.

References. Office for National Statistics, sickness absence in the UK labour market, 2025, including 148.8 million working days lost. Institute for Public Policy Research analysis of the cost of employee ill health to UK employers. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Health and Wellbeing at Work report, causes of long-term absence. Health and Safety Executive, work-related musculoskeletal disorders statistics 2024/25. NHS England appointments in general practice, February 2026, and Referral to Treatment waiting times, June 2026. Employment Rights Act 2025, removal of statutory sick pay waiting days. HMRC guidance on medical screening as an employment benefit. Published 2026 UK private medical insurance, occupational health and corporate screening market pricing.