Healthcare access barriers cost UK economy £17bn as workforce health pressures rise
Economic costs of poor workforce health topped £87bn in the UK last year, driven by lost productivity.
Employees lose 2.1 working days a year due to delayed or difficult access to healthcare, contributing to an estimated £17bn annual cost to the UK economy.
The Access Gap: Building healthcare around real working lives, a new report from Simplyhealth, explores the health access barriers faced by employees in the UK.
Analysis by WPI Economics reveals even a small improvement in healthcare access could provide indicative economic benefits of £2.5bn.
Poor workforce health cost the UK economy £87bn last year according to new economic analysis from healthcare services and cash plan provider Simplyhealth working with WPI Economics. This includes £51.6bn due to sickness absence and £20bn in lost productivity when employees worked while unwell.
Published today, The Access Gap: Building healthcare around real working lives, finds that the barriers experienced by employees when trying to access healthcare are costing the economy an estimated £17 billion a year. On its own, the value of working time spent on healthcare-related admin during working hours was worth £2.6bn – equivalent to 32,500 full time employees.
Informed by research with 5,000 UK employees and 500 HR decision-makers, the report identifies how barriers to healthcare access affect workforce wellbeing, productivity, and business performance. It demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare is not meeting the needs of a multi-generational and diverse workforce, reinforcing barriers to accessing support.
Employees report losing an average of 2.1 working days in the last 12 months due to delayed or difficult access to healthcare, while more than half (52%) have delayed seeking medical care in the last year often because appointments didn’t fit their schedule, or they could not take or were worried to take time off work. On average, employees also report working 5 days while unwell and injured, and those who worked while unwell or injured said that their output dropped by more than 40% on these days.
The findings suggest healthcare access is now a business-critical issue. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of employees believe they would be more productive if they could access healthcare more quickly, while eight in ten (78%) employers agree that their employees increasingly expect better healthcare support in the workplace. The analysis shows that even a relatively small improvement to the speed of healthcare access could unlock £2.5bn1 in economic benefits.
Paul Schreier, CEO of Simplyhealth said:
The way we work has changed dramatically, but the way people access healthcare has not always kept pace. Too many employees are still struggling to get timely support that fits around their working lives, leading to delays in treatment, lost productivity and poorer health outcomes.
Our research shows that employees are losing valuable working time simply trying to access care, while employers are seeing the impact through absence, reduced productivity and employee experience.
Closing the access gap is a practical opportunity for employers and the economy. Employers should look carefully at whether their health support is genuinely easy to access, fast to navigate and designed around the realities of modern working life. Getting this right can mean healthier people, stronger businesses and a more productive economy.
Matthew Oakely, Director and Founder of WPI Economics said:
From the significant impacts on people themselves, to lost productivity and higher public spending, workplace ill health is costing us all. Overall, our analysis shows that in 2025, poor workplace health cost the UK £87bn, with almost £52bn attributable to sickness absence, and a further £20bn in lost productivity as a direct result of employees working while sick or injured. Urgent action is needed to ensure that ill health stops being an economic drag on the UK. Boosting access to both preventative support and healthcare when people do become sick, are vital to shortening recoveries and driving down presenteeism. In turn this could lead to significant personal, economic and social benefits.
Today's workforce is more diverse than ever, and healthcare needs increasingly vary according to life stages. The report finds that 68% of employees would value healthcare support tailored to different stages of life. Exploring the experiences of parents, carers, people experiencing menopause and perimenopause, those navigating relationship change and employees approaching retirement, the research highlights how one-size-fits-all approaches can create barriers to accessing care. It suggests more personalised and flexible support could help close the healthcare access gap.
Increasingly, employees expect healthcare support that fits around their lives and working patterns, not a one-size-fits-all approach that does not flex to their needs. The report exposes a perception gap between employers and employees. While 90% of employers who offer healthcare benefits believe those benefits are flexible, 52% of employees say they need more flexibility than is currently available. For many employees, flexibility means being able to access healthcare around work and personal commitments through options such as virtual appointments, evening or weekend availability, faster access to clinicians and support tailored to different life stages and circumstances.
Dr Macarena Staudenmaier, Head of Clinical Product & Operations, Simplyhealth said:
Today's workforce is more diverse than ever, and people's healthcare needs increasingly vary according to their life stage, responsibilities and working patterns. Yet many healthcare services are still designed around traditional models that don't always reflect how people live and work today.
Flexibility increasingly means being able to access healthcare around work and personal commitments. Faster GP appointments, evening and weekend availability, and simpler booking systems are among the changes employees say would most improve their ability to access healthcare.
More broadly, flexible healthcare can include support tailored to different life stages and circumstances, digital and virtual services, 24/7 GP access, and solutions that help people manage their health without disrupting work or family life.
The research suggests that accessible, flexible healthcare is not just a matter of convenience, but an important factor in achieving better health outcomes. Delays in seeking care can mean health concerns become more complex and harder to treat. Designing healthcare around real working lives can help people access support earlier, reduce delays to treatment and improve health outcomes, while making it easier to manage their health alongside work and personal commitments.
The findings suggest that for employers, the challenge is no longer simply providing healthcare benefits, but ensuring employees can easily access and use them. Simplyhealth believes employers can play an important role by offering healthcare support that removes barriers to care, enables earlier intervention and better reflects the realities of modern working life. The findings come as the Government seeks to prevent rising economic inactivity through its Keep Britain Working review, of which Simplyhealth is a Vanguard organisation.
Download The Access Gap: Building healthcare around real working lives
Methodology
Opinium conducted a nationally representative survey of 5,000 employees in the UK between 23 April and 6 May 2026, and a survey of 500 HR decision-makers in UK companies with at least 10 employees between 23 April and 7 May 2026. Simplyhealth commissioned WPI Economics to identify the economic impact of the healthcare barriers identified in the Opinium research.
[1] Source: WPI Economics analysis of ONS and Opinium for Simplyhealth. Notes: Adapts and updates methodology developed by DWP. Benefits include increased output and reductions in SSP / OSP paid by employers. Numbers may not sum, due to rounding. Assumptions: 25% of workers strongly agree that they would be more productive with quicker access to healthcare. Another 41% say that they agree. We assumed that these two groups are able to reduce their healthcare access-related absence by just 25% and 10% respectively to value the potential benefits.
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