Leading county councillor Morris Bright has asked whether firefighters in Hertfordshire should be able to access treatment from private healthcare providers – to get them back into work more quickly.

Speedy treatment, he says, for those firefighters who are waiting, would be better for their physical and mental health.

And, he suggests, access to private treatment could cut the costs incurred by the county's Fire and Rescue Service – in occupational health and over-time costs.

Cllr Bright – who is executive member for public health and community safety – raised the issue at a meeting of the council's cabinet on Tuesday (July 9).

He suggested the option of spending a sum of money on treatment from the private sector for those fighters who are who are on sick leave, waiting an operation or similar.

And he said this could also have an impact on the amount of over-time payments, saying: "the quicker you get them back to work the quicker you stop paying overtime".

He said there was "some maths to be done" – but he also suggested it would have a broader impact on fire officers and their families.

"I really do think there has to be a way – particularly in a service which is so physical, where there are injuries sustained – to get our people back to work," he said.

"Because it has an effect on their mental health, if they can't do the work. And that has a whole knock on effect on their families as well."

Cllr Bright – who had also floated the idea at a recent meeting of the council's public health and community safety cabinet panel – suggested that there was a keenness to look at the possibilities. 

And he said: "Again it's moving Hertfordshire forward – working out how we can save money, but not doing so at the cost of the service – and working out how we can make those services better for the people who are providing them, as well as those that are receiving them."

Cllr Bright made the remarks as councillors considered the council's performance for the last three months of the 2023/24 financial year.

Additional occupational health costs were highlighted in the report as contributing to an overspend.

In Hertfordshire, the Fire and Rescue Service is among the services operated by the county council.

Following the meeting Cllr Bright stressed that he was not suggesting the provision of private health care for all firefighters – but access to private treatment for those firefighters who were facing long waits.