It has since been parodied in the hit comedy film, Hot Fuzz. Last month, though, the Met Police launched Fit the Bill, where all 44,000 staff will have a health and wellbeing assessment, with 14,000 of them already being identified as key health targets.
It's all very well intentioned. But here's the rub: I doubt the rationale is to make faster bobbies. Someone, somewhere sees a business benefit, probably along the lines of cutting absence. After all an extra one day a year reduction saves the Met £10 million a year.
But how will it analyse this? Measuring it is just so complex. Why? Well, just take last month's European Heart Journal. It finds staff who work more than 11 hours' overtime per week increase their risk of heart disease by two thirds. The Met Police's overtime bill has risen 90% since 2000. Which begs one important question: Is tackling 'health' (fitness, food, exercise) the best way to tackle wellness, or is tackling 'work' (by offering flexible working) the best way? With fit notes threatening to send ill staff back too work early (p4) and staff doing more work and getting more stressed, wellbeing will continue to confuse.
We don't have all the answers but we'd like to hear from you. Together with supplement sponsor Simplyhealth we're running a survey of what you think about wellbeing . The results will be published in September.
