Interview with Emma James, Physiotherapist
Emma James runs a physiotherapist
clinic in Hemel Hempstead. She firmly believes that taking her services into
the corporate world can provide huge benefits to the organisation and to staff
members. Emma was good enough to answer my questions on this topic.
What benefits do companies get from inviting you into their offices?
There are many benefits but they
generally fall into two main categories. It demonstrates an investment in the
staff that they really do appreciate and this can be part of the reason they
demonstrate loyalty to the employer and are less likely to move on. The costs
of attracting, selecting and employing staff can be significant.
As part of a health screening
program it can help to stop small health issues becoming more serious hence
keeping staff healthy and cutting down on the expense of absence. There are
many other benefits such as simply cutting down on the length of time it takes
staff to get treated as it does not involve a trip to another location.
What will you typically do for organisations?
The services we are asked to do
vary but could range from helping with an initial medical of staff, running a
clinic once a week or once a month through to carrying out workstation
assessments and holding pilates classes.
Are there any particularly interesting examples of this approach in the
pipeline?
Yes, I am talking with a
secondary school in Hertfordshire. Teacher absence has a huge cost associated
with it – this is from items such as sick pay and costs of alternative
cover. This is apart from the problems
associated with lack of continuity in the teaching that the pupils face.
The school administrator has a
handle on what these costs are per year. We are hoping to provide a pro-active
wellness program for the school staff. The objective is to stop small health
issues becoming large ones so the staff health is better and the teaching more
efficient. This will obviously be better for staff and students but after the
program has been running for a year we will be able to compare before and after
costs.
Can you relate any specific success stories that have happened already?
Not with names attached but
recently we treated a senior member of staff at Customs and Excise. They needed
a disabled badge in their car and due to a bad back were only working at 10-15%
of capacity. After treatment from us at their workplace they now function at
full capacity and as they are a public servant this is good value for
taxpayers.
What levels of ‘buy in’ do you experience from the staff of
organisations that invite you to help them at their workplace?
It differs from company to
company but also on how it is funded. If the company provides the service for
free to the employees then the buy in is high, if it is provided via insurance
then it tends to be moderate and if the individual has to pay (even a
subsidised amount) it tends to be low.
One of the services that you supply is workstation assessments. What do
you think of doing these via online tools? How do you like to do them?
I know lots of companies think
these are useful tools but I think they then tend to be more of a tick box
exercise and don’t really deal with issues properly. The best solution I have
found is a human doing the assessment ( who is medically qualified) who then
had access to simple implements such as lumbar rolls or footstools so that
problems can be assessed and dealt with immediately.
Your clinic is very busy and I know you were treating someone famous
last night. Can you say who?
No I can’t but I can say that
they are a household name pretty much the world over!
Emma James can be contacted via her clinic in
Hemel Hempstead to arrange help for your staff or to make individual
appointments.
Tel 01442 870686
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