CIR spoke to Dr Luke Kane, a practising NHS GP and senior medical officer at Healix, about the importance of preventing travel-related incidents, supporting travellers’ mental health and addressing overlooked risks including drink-spiking, hotel security and social media.

CIR: Drawing on your experience as a practising GP, how do frontline clinical realities differ from the risks organisations typically plan for? Where do organisations tend to fall short?

Dr Luke Kane: The reality is much messier and much more human than most organisations plan for.

I understand that when organisations develop travel risk policies and mitigation plans they have to think at a strategic level, but incidents overseas are, by their nature, very human events. That means dealing not only with the traveller, but also with family members, next of kin and colleagues who may also require support.

The reality is far more complex than many organisations anticipate.

Smaller organisations probably have the biggest gaps, but in general the greatest weakness is around prevention. Organisations aren't investing enough in robust systems that predict and prevent incidents before they occur. We believe that around 90% of incidents can be predicted. If an incident happens, there has usually been an opportunity to intervene earlier.

Simple measures such as pre-trip medical screening can prevent a significant number of overseas medical incidents. The same principle applies to security risks.

The encouraging thing is that there is increasing recognition across the industry that prevention matters. For instance, I've been working on pre-trip mental health screening. The aim is not to stop people travelling but to identify potential issues beforehand, put appropriate support plans in place and make travel safer.

I would go as far as to say that every mental health case we've dealt with over the past year could have been predicted and prevented.

Which sectors are most at risk, and are organisations genuinely taking a proactive stance when it comes to managing mental health?

We see a particularly high incidence among university students because they're predominantly young, separated from their support networks and adjusting to unfamiliar cultural environments – all of which can be highly stressful. We also see mental health issues quite frequently in corporate organisations. In those settings there's often additional shame or stigma, which can discourage employees from disclosing existing mental health conditions to their employer.

If an organisation genuinely puts its people first, employees recognise that. They understand that well-being programmes, mental health screening and pre-travel support are there because the organisation genuinely wants to look after them.

Trust is essential because organisations need employee buy-in if risk mitigation measures are going to work. For example, if you're asking employees to complete a mental health screening questionnaire before travelling – covering mood, anxiety, alcohol consumption or recreational drug use – they need to believe the information is being collected to support them rather than to judge them.

If employees understand that completing the assessment could lead to practical support – such as weekly calls with a psychologist during a trip to Ukraine or regular well-being check-ins from head office – they are much more likely to engage honestly.

Without that trust, the screening process becomes largely ineffective.

How does stress typically manifest in business travellers – even amongst those who appear to be coping well?

The accumulation of small stresses can have a significant impact over time, even on people who are high-performing and don't think they're susceptible to stress.

One of the challenges organisations face is assuming they can simply refer someone to a therapist in London or arrange for them to be seen at a clinic in France. While those services are valuable, what's often missing is continuity of care. Travellers can end up seeing different doctors, therapists and clinics without anyone overseeing the bigger picture in the way a trusted GP would at home.

When you combine that with today's geopolitical instability, environmental volatility and an increasingly unpredictable global risk landscape, it becomes much harder for organisations and travellers to manage risk. It's not just conflict in one region; there is political instability in many parts of the world, the continuing threat of emerging infectious diseases, heat stress linked to climate change and worsening air quality. All of these pressures accumulate.

It also becomes more complex when employees are worrying about their families back home, adding another layer of stress.

Experienced travellers can also become complacent. People travelling for work for the first time tend to check in regularly with family and friends and are generally more cautious. Those who have travelled for years often become accustomed to being away, may check in less frequently and may not look after themselves as carefully. That's when risk can start to increase.

Which emerging risks affecting female business travellers are employers failing to sufficiently address?

One trend we've noticed on the medical desk is an increase in drink-spiking incidents, but also reports of people receiving unexplained needle-stick injuries in nightlife settings. These incidents should be discussed with all travellers, although there should be particular awareness around risks facing female travellers.

It doesn't take much to introduce awareness through e-learning or pre-travel briefings. Even making sure employees know to contact their medical assistance provider immediately if they think they've been spiked could make a significant difference. Many people simply wouldn't know what to do if something like that happened during a work trip.

It's also understandable that some people may hesitate to tell their employer if the incident happened while they were socialising late at night, which makes it an even more complex issue. Organisations need to address it openly if they want to reduce the risk.

Hotel security is another issue. Readers will be aware of the recent UK case involving a woman who was sexually assaulted in a hotel after a man was able to obtain access to her room. Many travellers assume their hotel room is a completely safe space, but there are situations where unauthorised people can gain access. Organisations should provide practical guidance on hotel room security and personal safety.

Social media presents another set of risks. Posting photos or videos from a hotel room on Instagram or TikTok may seem harmless, but it can make it easy for people to identify a traveller's location. That can lead to unwanted attention, harassment or, in the worst cases, assault.

These are risks that organisations can address through relatively straightforward education and awareness.

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