Your health, your business’s health

If you work for yourself you will be familiar with the phrase “I’m too busy to be ill!” You’ll know the feeling of dread when you start to cough and sniffle. The thought of cancelling meetings is bad, the thought of turning away opportunities to earn money is even worse! Luckily, for most of us, a day or two in bed with a hot water bottle and a large packet of paracetamol is enough to get us back on our feet.

But have you ever thought about what you would do, if the worst happened, and you, or a member of your family became seriously ill? It doesn’t bear thinking about, but the effects of an illness can spiral quickly.  If you or a member of your family does become ill this may effectively render you unable to work or work very little, and besides, your mind would not be focused on work but rather on getting better or caring for them.

In this scenario, a business owner’s ‘to do’ list can grow so much so that the consequences of not being able to complete it can become a little frightening.

Besides that there is the potential of:

• loss of earnings
• non-completion of work
• lack of ability to pick up new work
• damage to your reputation
• and potential loss of clients

It is an extremely taxing time both mentally and physically, therefore it is recommended you have a contingency plan to be able to provide for your family, especially if the illness is ongoing and requires regular treatment.

The first step to recovery is diagnosis. This is often where the problems start, being headed up by waiting lists. Already under immense financial pressure, the NHS relies on public spending, and with the increasing population and increased life expectancy, waiting lists are only set to get longer. Private healthcare has the upper hand at this extremely critical stage by being privately funded and able to offer appointments within days rather than months.

Once diagnosed, treatment should begin immediately, but what if the drugs required were so expensive you couldn’t afford them? This obviously brings added pressure if you are unable to work, never mind the uncertainty of their availability on prescription. Drug breakthroughs are costly and push up the price of medicine with some only being available privately now. But could you afford a lump sum payout straight away if you had to? It is better not to take the risk.

Having private medical insurance will give a degree of peace of mind by offering the reassurance of faster treatment and guaranteed greater levels of care. You also have the benefit of choice with private medical care and can usually choose from hundreds of hospitals UK wide.

Of course nobody plans on becoming ill and most take preventative steps by eating healthily and exercising regularly. During a working day however it can be difficult to stick to this. These are just some tips recommended by medical professionals to keep you ticking over as nature intended and increase productivity.

• Consider your posture, especially if you work at a desk or in intensive labour
• Stay active, take a few minutes’ break and go for a brief walk
• Employ de-stress routines like deep breathing
• Eat properly and regularly to keep your strength and mental agility up
• Avoid too much caffeine
• Drink plenty of water

Find out more about private medical insurance from WPA or call Hitesh on 01339 880064 to ask about special rates for QAccounting clients. Get in touch today for more information.