In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield stated that the UK is facing a “quiet but urgent crisis” which is holding back growth and damaging people’s life chances.

Latest ONS figures show a near-record 2.78 million people remain economically inactive due to ill health, while new Work Foundation research finds six in ten employers report persistent levels of health-related exits from work. Researchers warn this could rise if those most at risk remain least likely to access workplace support.

Seven months after launching his final Keep Britain Working report, Sir Charlie addressed the Work Foundation’s Work and Health Summit 2026 in London this week to provide an update on how to support people with ill-health to stay and return to work. Here are the five key takeaways from his conversation with our Director, Ben Harrison.

1. Employers are ready to act but momentum must turn into delivery

Sir Charlie was cautiously optimistic about progress since the Keep Britain Working report, noting that the number of Vanguard employers has grown from 60 to more than 200.

“We’re building basically a bit of a coalition of people who share our conviction that we can do this a lot better,” he said. “This is a serious problem, but it is absolutely fixable.”

But he was also clear that goodwill is not enough. “Willing it is one thing, making it happen is obviously something else.” That is why the next phase matters as the Keep Britain Working programmes moves from diagnosis to delivery across sectors, places and smaller businesses — and turning national ambition into practical tools, standards and incentives employers can use in real workplaces.

2. Workplace health should be seen as a growth opportunity

One of Sir Charlie’s strongest messages was that improving workplace health should not be seen only as a welfare challenge or an HR issue. It is also an economic opportunity.

“This is probably one of the biggest opportunities we have to drive growth in this country,” he said. With 35 million people in work and nearly three million economically inactive due to ill health or disability, even modest improvements in retention and return to work could make a major difference.

Referencing a series of other measures often cited as routes to boost growth, Sir Charlie reflected that, “You don’t have to rejoin the EU, you don’t have to open up a new route of immigration or build lots of new houses. We have got an opportunity to drive growth sitting right in front of us.”

But as our research with colleagues in the Centre for Organisational Health and Wellbeing at Lancaster shows, large challenges remain with uneven access to practical support, with those at higher risk of ill health often missing out.

3. The aim must be to rehumanise the workplace

Sir Charlie also emphasised the importance of relationships at work. “A lot of what we’re trying to do is to rehumanise the workplace,” he said. “This is about relationships and figuring out how do we get those to improve.”

This is particularly important for workers experiencing mental health challenges, who may be reluctant to disclose problems until they reach crisis point. As Sir Charlie put it: “If you’re not well, particularly perhaps if you’ve got a mental health issue, you’re very likely to be drawing into yourself.”

That means prevention cannot simply be a slogan. It requires line managers to have the confidence, time and support to act early – and employers must design jobs in ways that reduce the risk of people becoming unwell in the first place.

4. SMEs need support that is affordable, local and practical

A recurring theme of the Summit was whether smaller employers have the resources to play their part. Sir Charlie stated that SMEs are vital to the agenda.

“Two-thirds of the people in this country work for SMEs,” he said. “If you can’t solve it there, you’re not going to solve it for the majority of people in the UK.”

This aligns with the Work Foundation’s call for local work and health hubs that give SMEs access to support they could not provide alone. Sir Charlie pointed to the Hull Resilience Hub, which offers GP access, health checks, early treatment and return-to-work support for around £50 per person per year — showing how pooled provision can make workplace health support more accessible.

5. Young people need starter jobs that help them stay in work

Sir Charlie also reflected on the challenges facing young people, warning that getting the one million 16–24-year-olds not in education, employment or training into jobs is not enough if those roles are insecure, unsupported or damaging to health.

“If someone has struggled to get into work, there’s usually a reason,” he said. “If what happens is you work really hard to get them into work and then they just fall out again, the work you’re going to have to do to get them back in another time is going to be an order of magnitude greater.”

This links directly to the findings of the Work Foundation’s Starting out report, which showed the number of “starter jobs” available to first-time entrants has fallen by 49% over the last decade.

The message was clear that improving access to work must go hand in hand with improving the “receiving environment” young people enter. Otherwise, the UK risks moving people into jobs that do not last, with young people bouncing in and out of insecure work.

Sir Charlie’s overall message was one of cautious optimism. The UK’s work and health challenge is serious, but not inevitable. With better prevention, stronger local support and sharper accountability, workplace health could become one of the country’s most important routes to stronger growth and better lives.

As he put it, “We cannot afford to miss” this opportunity.

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