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Ms Louise Cole Deputy Editor, Commercial Motor Quadrant House The
Page 31
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Quadrant Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS Dear Ms Cole, Thank you for your letter of 25 May about work underway to promote the health of road transport workers through the Commercial Motor Health Challenge and for your suggestions about health care access for truck drivers constantly on the move.
I'm delighted to receive your suggestions, and to hear about the interest of truck drivers in looking after and improving their own health. I would also like to congratulate you and your team on progress made in providing free health checks for transport workers.
The issue of accessible health care for working men is an important one and I thank you for raising this issue and the work you have done in this area. As we are all aware, men die younger than women. There are many reasons for this but one reason is that men can be reluctant to ask for a general health check and seek medical help, and so risk later diagnosis and treatment. Additionally; healthcare services may be less accessible to them, and other workers.
The White Paper Our health Our Care Our Say: A new direction for community services' (www.dh.gov.uk) sets out several ways for increasing access to primary health care that would particularly help transport workers. This would make it possible for your readers to see a doctor more easily during the course of the working day.
You rightly identify walk-in centres as a success, and their services are ideal for those working away from home. There are 75 walk-in centres across the country. All can be used by your readers and I encourage individuals to take full advantage of the services provided to ensure they get the advice they need. NHS Direct (0845 46 47, www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) is also available 24-hours a day to provide health advice and support.
Your readers may also be interested to know that the Department of Health is looking at how best to make health care more accessible and support people in making decisions to improve their own health.
Yours sincerely, CAROLINE FLINT