Research Reports
Cancer now costs UK employers £3.7bn a year as more than 1m working age people live with or beyond diagnosis
More than one million people of working age in the UK are now living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis, costing employers £3.7 billion a year through employee absence and reduced productivity according to new research published today by Working With Cancer, with pro bono support from the economics team at Ashurst Perkins Coie.
The report, What Cancer Costs Employers, finds that cancer is costing a business employing 1,000 people an average of £150,000 annually. In higher salary sectors such as financial and insurance services the figure rises to £284,800 per 1,000 employees. In addition, the five-year survival rate for working age people is now around 74 per cent, meaning that more people are surviving cancer and remaining in, or seeking to return to employment.
David Wirth, Head of Economics at law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie, said: “These figures highlight the growing workforce risk businesses are facing from cancer. Around 146,000 working-age people are diagnosed with cancer every year, up 18 per cent since 2013, and we estimate that more than one million people of working age are now living with or beyond a diagnosis. For businesses the cost is already significant and only set to increase.”
Veronica Foote head of policy and consulting at Working With Cancer said: “Employers should also be aware that the £3.7bn estimate in our report shouldn’t be regarded as the full economic cost of cancer to employers. It’s also important to recognise that there are additionally a further 1.1 million working adults in the UK now with caring responsibilities for someone with cancer.”
The report flags that employers also need to be aware of the risk of employees not returning after treatment. Working With Cancer points out that the employees of professional services firms may have highly specialised knowledge, client relationships and responsibilities that are difficult to replace quickly, and that the implications of losing an experienced member of staff will impact recruitment, training, service delivery and fee income.
Previous research undertaken by Working With Cancer and the Institute for Employment Studies found that one in four people diagnosed with cancer did not return to work, while 51 per cent of those who did return had little support, with no return-to-work conversation with occupational health. Half had no conversation with HR. When researching employers, Working With Cancer found that 96 per cent of organisations did not have a cancer-specific policy and only 18 per cent collected data on cancer within their workforce. Some 78 per cent of organisations reported that their line managers had received no training on supporting employees living with cancer, although line managers can make a significant difference as to whether someone returns successfully to work.
The What Cancer Costs Employers report also highlights a potential legal risk. Cancer is automatically regarded as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 from the point of diagnosis, irrespective of the severity of symptoms, prognosis or stage of illness. The protection continues after treatment and in perpetuity. Yet 25 per cent of HR managers surveyed by Working With Cancer reported a lack of understanding of disability legislation.
Veronica Foote: “Despite the scale of the issue, we find that many employers are woefully ill-prepared. We recommend they should recognise the significant and increasing impact of cancer in the workforce by reviewing the cancer support they provide, develop appropriate policies, train managers and HR teams, improve return-to-work processes and ensure employee benefits are appropriate both for people with cancer and for those caring for someone with cancer.”
As cancer incidence rises and survival improves, the research concludes that cancer is increasingly likely to be part of the working lives of employees rather than simply an absence from the workforce. For businesses, particularly those dependent on highly skilled and experienced employees, the economic case for being prepared is too hard to ignore.
Working With Cancer (WWC) is a not for profit social enterprise set up in 2014. Working With Cancer® helps employees, employers, the self-employed, job seekers and carers to manage cancer and work. WWC is dedicated to professionally guiding businesses to support employees who are impacted by cancer. WWC’s trainers, coaches and policy advisors are all senior professionals from a wide range of industries who have experienced cancer and bring that experience and insight to the support they provide to people affected by cancer throughout the UK and Europe.
For further information please contact: admin@workingwithcancer
WWC launches the Bevan Report into Improving Employer Support for Those Working With Cancer
New research launched by Working With Cancer reveals that many HR managers are ill-equipped to navigate the complexities of cancer and long-term health issues in the workplace. Working With Cancer’s report which was produced in conjunction with the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) shows that although many organisations are demonstrating areas of good practice, too many still do not take into account the specific needs of the increasing number of employees working with cancer. Too many organisations do not yet provide adequate information, training and support to their HR and line management teams. This new report calls for organisations to develop specific cancer policies, provide training for HR and line managers and review current employee benefits to better support employees with long-term health conditions.
Read the Executive Summary (PDF)
Read the full report (PDF)
Read the case studies (PDF)
IES/WWC Survey: Cancer & Employment Survey Summary of Key Findings Stephen Bevan and Barbara Wilson
Despite an encouraging increase in survival from cancer in recent years the proportion of people living with cancer who return successfully to work remains disappointingly low. In this survey of over 1,200 people living with cancer, we explore the factors which make a successful, sustainable and fulfilling return to work more likely, and explore the barriers which remain for those returning to work during or after treatment.
You can find the summary of key findings here
All.Can Patient Survey: ‘Patient insights on cancer care: opportunities for improving efficiency’
All.Can international have released a new report titled ‘Patient insights on cancer care: opportunities for improving efficiency’. The report reveals findings from an international survey on the patient perspective of inefficiencies in cancer care. With insights from almost 4,000 patients in more than 10 countries, the report identifies four key areas of opportunity for improvement:
1. Ensure swift, accurate and appropriately delivered diagnosis
2. Improve information-sharing, support and shared decision-making
3. Make integrated multidisciplinary care a reality for all patients
4. Address the financial impact of cancer
You can find the full report here
Important initial research findings about the psychological engagement of people returning to work after cancer
In 2018, WWC supported a research study conducted by our associate Andrew Parsons at the University of Hertfordshire. Andrew (with his Supervisor Dr Colleen Addicott), presented his initial findings at the British Psychological Society, Division of Occupational Psychology meeting in Chester on the 9th January 2019. The title of the talk was “The aftershock of coming back to work: Work engagement in Cancer Survivors”.
To read about their initial research findings click here
‘I have cancer but I want to work. Working rights of cancer patients’. An initiative of the ABC Global Alliance
Meeting Report
‘I have cancer but I want to work. Working rights of cancer patients’. An initiative of the ABC Global Alliance 7 November 2018, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium.
On 7 November Barbara Wilson took part at an event at the European Parliament in Brussels, organised by the ABC Global Alliance, calling on European politicians and policymakers to implement consistent and flexible policies to enable cancer patients and cancer survivors to return to work.
Barbara had three key messages for the meeting:
There must be a consistent EU-wide framework that supports all people with cancer who face discrimination in the workplace.
It is possible for most people with cancer, even those who are terminally ill, to continue to work if they wish to do so
Information must be given to employers and employees on what to expect during and after cancer treatment and how to manage at work. This means regular communication about the side-effects of treatment and having the flexibility to make adjustments for a gradual and successful return to work
To read the full report of the meeting click here
Transforming Breast Cancer Together: White Paper publication
The Transforming Breast Cancer Initiative today published a White Paper, which provides a comprehensive evaluation of the status of breast cancer prevention, diagnosis and care across Europe, and identifies concrete actions which would help to ensure equal access and better outcomes for patients across Europe.
To address these challenges, the initiative renewed its ‘Call for Change’, launched in April 2018, which constitute 9 policy tasks aimed at improving breast cancer prevention and care. These include the need to address the differences in cancer care across European Member States, the importance of diagnosing and treating breast cancer in the early stages, the need for support in the workplace for patients suffering from breast cancer, and the unique needs of patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer.
Working With Cancer® is a key participant in the group – which currently includes MEPS Lieve Wierinck (Belgium), Elena Gentile (Italy), and Cristian-Silviu Bușoi (Romania) who have been working on this. To read the White Paper in full click here
Cancer in The Workplace Report: Role of Coaching
Last year Barbara Wilson contributed to a project run by the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by Bristol Myers Squibb, about Cancer in the Workplace.
The report concludes that there is significant room for improvement in company policies and practices to strengthen workplace support for those affected by cancer and those steps are: improving access to information, providing coaching and establishing support groups for employees and setting a health and well-being strategy that makes provision for cancer. Working With Cancer® can support you in all of these respects: with coaching, training and consultancy services. The report is now out and below is a link to it.
Other key reports and publications
Rethinking cancer The Big ‘C’
Quantifying the social and economic impact by Helen Creighton, Brian beach and Sally-Marie Bamford
Published by ILC www.ilcuk.org.uk
After the Treatment Finishes – Then What?
Article by Dr Peter Harvey, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Moving Forward With or After Breast Cancer: Dr Jane Clark
Many of you will be familiar with the work of Dr Peter Harvey (see above) published on the Cancer Counselling Trust’s website in 2004 about the psychological impact of cancer. Just after he retired in 2007, Peter spent six months updating the work with the help of Dr Jane Clark who is now a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Lead for the psychology team into cancer services in a large NHS Trust in the north of England. Many people found Dr Harvey’s work to be very helpful so when Sara Liyanage (the Founder of Ticking Off Breast Cancer) asked Jane to write a short article on life after cancer this spurred Jane, during lockdown, to refresh the information. She did this with Dr Harvey’s approval and her revised series of articles is available below.
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