Equipsme HR Guide – cancer

We know cancer is emotive and a big concern, so we’ve pulled this guide together to help you and your team understand more about the facts, the potential impact on your business – and how you and your Equipsme plan can help your team if the worst should ever happen.

We don’t cover cancer treatment. That’s a deliberate choice that’s part of our commitment to providing health insurance at a cost-effective, responsible, and sustainable price.

Instead, we focus on early diagnosis and support.

Even if Diagnosis isn’t part of your Equipsme plan, all Equipsme members have access to our 24/7 GP, Health Support line, and a Cancer Care Support team. So, there’s no need

for anyone to wait and worry – they can still get initial attention and ongoing advice, fast.

Most businesses will already have things like long-term sickness absence policies in place, but supporting cancer in the workplace doesn’t only mean supporting those going through treatment.

It also means helping people live healthier lifestyles, because an estimated 1 in 4¹ cancer cases are considered preventable. And it means supporting those caring for loved ones with cancer symptoms – often older relatives, with 1/3² of cancer cases diagnosed in over 75s.

Cancer in numbers

Incidence

While cancer cases are on the rise, most people are diagnosed when they’re older. The number of working people living with cancer is outstripped by the number of working people caring for loved ones with cancer:

1 in 2 ³ people in the UK will get cancer within their lifetime
1/3 ⁴ of cancers are diagnosed in people over 75
900,000 ⁵ – the number of working age people living with cancer today
1.1m ⁶– working people in the UK are caring for someone with cancer
54% ⁷ of all cancers in the UK fall into four types - breast, lung, prostate and bowel cancer

Early intervention

The importance of prevention and early detection for cancer can’t be overstated. There is much people can do to avoid key risk factors, e.g. quitting smoking. Meanwhile where cancer does develop, catching it early makes a huge difference to health outcomes:

37% ⁸ - the number of cancer cases considered preventable in 2022
£133 billion ⁹- the total estimated costs of UK preventable cancer cases diagnosed in 2023, equating to 5.07% of annual GDP
10% ¹⁰ - the increase in risk of death for each 4 weeks delay in cancer treatment
100% vs 30% ¹¹ – the number of women who survive breast cancer for 5 years or more when it’s diagnosed at its earliest stage, vs its latest stage
65% vs 5% ¹²– the number of people who survive lung cancer when it’s diagnosed at its earliest stage, vs its latest stage
100% vs 50% ¹³- the number of men who survive prostate cancer when it’s diagnosed at its earliest stage, vs its latest stage
90% vs 10% ¹⁴ - the number of people who survive bowel cancer when it’s diagnosed at its earliest stage, vs its latest stage

Access

Some people can experience difficulty in getting that early attention, especially for what can often be vague symptoms that are hard to put together, eg. losing weight, lumps, bumps, or minor changes over time:

48% ¹⁵ of Brits avoid making a GP appointment, often the first port of call for cancer symptoms
43% ¹⁶ don’t find it easy to make a GP appointment
More than 6 million cases ¹⁷ — the estimated size of the NHS waiting lists 2026

NHS Treatment

While waiting lists for NHS treatment are high and cancer targets are officially being missed, most people are in fact still experiencing fast, effective treatment from the NHS:

92.2% ¹⁸ of people diagnosed with cancer start treatment within 31 days on the NHS in June 2026
8% ¹⁹ - the number of people waiting longer than 31 days – often due to the need for complex treatment plans and further tests, scans and genetic results

Workplace issues

Cancer clearly has an impact on people in the workplace, and not all workplaces are responding effectively to individual needs:

40% ²⁰- the number of people with cancer who’ve had to use annual leave to attend medical appointments
15 weeks ²¹ – the average time off taken by someone with cancer
22% ²² - the number of people who don’t tell their workplace they have cancer until they are undergoing treatment
10% ²³ – the number of people with cancer who don’t feel supported by their workplace
67% ²⁴ – the number of workplaces which don’t have a specific policy for serious or terminal illness.

What the law says about cancer

Under UK law, cancer is considered a disability, protected in England, Scotland and Wales by the Equality Act 2010²⁵,and in Northern Ireland by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Amongst other things, that means your organisation has to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate people with cancer, that allow them to do their job.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023²⁶makes provisions for employees with caring responsibilities. Any employee who balances work with unpaid care is now entitled to up to one week within any 12-month period, extending to 18 weeks for a child.

According to the Employment Rights Act 1996 ²⁷,UK employers are obligated to give employees an unpaid “reasonable” number of days off following the death of a family member, or dependent.

What can businesses do about cancer?

1. Prevention

Not all cancers can be prevented, and not all risk factors can be mitigated – for instance age or family history. But there are risk factors people can control, including giving up smoking, drinking less alcohol, taking exercise, staying safe in the sun, eating well and maintaining a healthy weight.

These are all healthy habits that employers can encourage through health and wellbeing initiatives at work – making it easier for employees to take breaks, have time to prepare and eat food, and opportunities to move more during the working day.

Things like health assessments or health checks can also help motivate people to make lifestyle changes, and spot potential issues early.

2. Early diagnosis

Early diagnosis makes a huge difference to the kind of cancer treatments available, and their chance of success. It’s really important to avoid a culture of presenteeism, and make it as easy as possible for people to take their initial symptoms to a GP.

There is also a role for health awareness days and activities, including for charity, which can help spread the word about symptoms to look out for - especially linked to the most common types of cancer likely to impact your workforce.

3. Treatment support

Treatment support remains crucial, and can include reasonable adjustments ²⁸, such as time off for appointments, flexible working, reduced hours and duties - or phased returns to work after surgery or other procedures.

It’s also important to review your long-term sickness absence policy²⁹,and invest in ongoing training for HR staff and line managers³⁰, helping them offer the best possible support to employees.

4. Carer support

If you don’t have a carer support or carer’s leave policy ³¹, it’s time to develop one. Some estimates put the figure of those caring for someone with cancer in the UK as high as 6.5 million ³². Looking after someone with cancer can have a physical, emotional, and financial impact. Being aware of the challenges ³³ they face and flexible about things like working schedules can empower carers, promote engagement, and build a culture of support.

5. Bereavement support

Many people will live with cancer for years. For others it may be months. For the people around them, it is clearly devastating. As an organisation you should have a compassionate leave or bereavement policy ³⁴for employees who lose a loved one, and plans in place to support the teams of employees who have died.

How your Equipsme plan can help

1. Prevention

All Equipsme plans come with Thriva tests and discounts from our health check partners Thriva (depending on the cover level chosen), aiming to help people stay one step ahead of their health.

That includes the option for a PSA test for prostate cancer, as well as other health markers.

2. Early diagnosis - GP

Encourage your people to use their Equipsme 24/7 GP service to help get fast, convenient appointments, and a vital second opinion service. GPs can provide an open referral letter on to a specialist consultant, if medically appropriate, and if Diagnosis is part of the member’s plan this may be covered if the symptoms/condition to be investigated is covered.

3. Early diagnosis – fast-track Online Outpatient Cancer Services

We also have specialised Online Outpatient Cancer Services for three common cancers through AXA Health. These aim to get people with symptoms of breast, skin or prostate cancer through to specialist support even faster.

Online Outpatient Cancer Services are for members with Diagnosis as part of their plan, aged over 18 - and over 40 for the prostate cancer service. These pathways mean Equipsme members can often access diagnosis services through AXA Health, without the need for a GP referral.

The breast, skin and prostate cancer outpatient services are provided by Check4Cancer, a reliable and trusted provider of early cancer detection in the UK.

4. Treatment support

The cost of cancer treatment can make traditional PMI prices increase significantly, which is why we don’t include it in Equipsme plans.

Instead, we focus on early diagnosis, and provide helpline support as people return back to the NHS to start their treatment programmes. This might be under the same consultant they’ve seen through Equipsme, or they might be referred on to another consultant or team.

The NHS is still very effective at cancer care, and is often the best place to gather multi-disciplinary teams for complex treatment.

Members also have access to cancer nurse specialists on the 24/7 Health Support Service helpline who can help patients and their relatives understand their treatment, medication, and options.

5. Carer support

Because cancer risk increases with age, cancer carers in the workforce may be looking after older relatives. That’s why all Equipsme plans come with discounts on Which? recommended Elder Care support services, including personal alarms and emergency resolution services, plus expert advice, guidance and other resources.

6. Bereavement support

Equipsme’s Stress support EAP service, an optional add-on that you can choose to provide to all employees included in your main plan, includes bereavement support. Initial telephone appointments can lead to referrals for a limited number of local, face-to-face appointments with a bereavement expert.