According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, the education sector has the highest rates of work-related stress, depression and anxiety in Britain. For schools and academies, supporting their workforce through professional and personal difficulties is key to effectively managing and reducing absences.
Although staff absence protection primarily supports schools with the financial impact of teacher absences, it can also provide access to preventative services to help tackle the root cause, such as mental health training and stress management strategies.
But with the ongoing pandemic prompting more unexpected staff absences than ever, many schools and academies are finding their current insurance policies are not delivering on promises to cover these COVID-19 related absences.
Bloom’s pre-accredited supplier, Education Mutual, offers a stable and trusted alternative to traditional staff absence protection insurance. The mutual is owned by its members (schools and academies), meaning they can offer lower premiums and ultimately allow surplus money to be re-invested into schools.
At Bloom, we operate the NEPRO³ professional services solution on behalf of NEPO (the North East Procurement Organisation).
NEPRO³ is the only professional services framework approved by the DfE for schools and academies. The solution is a fast, compliant, cost effective way for schools to buy and manage professional services, such as staff absence protection.
We understand that following complex public sector procurement regulations can be challenging. Failure in compliance can result in wasted resource, legal issues, contracts being cancelled and financial loss.
At Bloom, we provide a compliant route to market for schools looking to source staff absence protection. We deliver this through the DfE recommended NEPRO³ framework, providing fast and fully compliant access to Education Mutual’s services.
Working with Bloom is simple. As the experts in public sector procurement, we’ll take care of everything you need. Our
experience across the education sector means that we understand the unique challenges you face and how we can work with you to solve them.
Our Chief Procurement Officer Paul Mander, met with Nick Hurn OBE, Chairman of Education Mutual, to chat about the benefits of staff absence protection for schools, and how Education Mutual are offering a DfE approved alternative to traditional insurance.