04 Aug 2026

Making preventative healthcare more accessible at work

Vista Health teamed up with The Heath to bring health support closer to employees by encouraging earlier intervention.

With sickness absence remaining high and employers under increasing pressure to support employee wellbeing, organisations are looking for practical ways to make preventative healthcare more accessible.

While many businesses offer wellbeing initiatives, engagement can be a challenge when support sits outside employees' working lives.

The question for many employers is how to bring health support closer to employees and encourage earlier intervention.

Removing healthcare barriers

The Heath Business and Technical Park wanted to offer its resident businesses, employees and gym members access to proactive health support in a way that felt simple, useful and easy to engage with.

It was looking for a solution that would remove some of the barriers often associated with accessing healthcare, allowing people to gain a clearer understanding of their health without needing to arrange separate appointments or take additional time out of their day.

To achieve this, The Heath partnered with Vista Health to host an on-site preventative health and wellbeing event, giving employees the opportunity to attend a health check during working hours.

The health checks were designed to help employees better understand their current health status through blood tests and key physiological measurements, supported by clinical review and results.

For employees, this provided reassurance and greater clarity around their health. For employers and HR leaders, the programme offered valuable insight into workforce wellbeing and a stronger foundation for considering what support employees may need in the future.

Creating a supportive culture

Workplace health initiatives can help foster a more open and supportive culture around wellbeing. Rather than health being something employees only address when issues arise, bringing preventative support into the workplace can help normalise conversations about health and encourage people to be more proactive.

For Lesley Banks, sales and marketing manager at SOG Resources, which owns The Heath, the cultural impact was particularly important. As she explained, “it breeds a culture of health and wellbeing amongst the people that you work with. It’s not a taboo subject, it’s an everyday subject that you can talk about.”

For organisations looking to strengthen employee engagement and retention, initiatives like these highlight the role preventative healthcare can play in a broader wellbeing strategy.

Health checks and more comprehensive health assessments offer a practical way to support employees, helping them identify potential risks earlier, take positive action to improve their wellbeing and feel that their health is genuinely valued.

Key learnings for employers

Bringing health support into the workplace can make it easier for employees to access and engage with preventative healthcare.
On-site initiatives help remove practical barriers such as time and convenience.
Preventative health interventions can give employees greater awareness of their health and encourage earlier action.
Visible wellbeing initiatives can help create a culture where conversations about health feel normal and supported.
Investing in workforce health demonstrates a commitment to employee wellbeing and can strengthen the overall employee experience.

The Heath's experience demonstrates how making healthcare easier to access can encourage engagement, support earlier intervention and help create a culture where wellbeing is part of everyday working life.

Watch the video to hear directly from the organisers and participating businesses about how Vista Health and The Heath worked together to bring proactive health support into the workplace.