Purchasing medical insurance can offer many benefits to small businesses, one industry body has claimed.
Jonathon French, spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers, explained that investing in such a product means that ill staff might return to work quicker, something that has obvious benefits for small firms.
He said: "It's an important thing for them from a productivity point of view and that, of course, has knock-on benefits to the overall productivity of the economy."
Offering private medical insurance could also help people attract a higher calibre of staff, he added.
Firms that invest in such insurance will also ensure a better quality of care for their staff if they fall ill, he concluded.
The latest figures from the ABI show that more than six million people in the UK are now covered by private medical insurance.
A further 1,136,000 are covered though healthcare trust arrangements, meaning more than seven million people are protected by such products.
