The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a new scheme concerning a ‘joined-up work and health support service’ to assist nearly 59,000 persons suffering from long-term illnesses or disabilities to rejoin the workforce.
The DWP's new reforms will be launched in October and will be piloted in 15 areas across the UK. The scheme will not affect people living in Scotland.
The DWP to Introduce New Scheme to Help Long-term Sick and Disabled People Back to Work
The WorkWell plan is part of a governmental program meant to overhaul the welfare system, recently outlined in a newly issued Green Paper.
The new scheme includes switching fixed monthly cash payments of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for more than 5,300 individuals with ‘lesser mental health issues’ to assist through Talking Therapies services. Nevertheless, the proposed reforms, which also include reviewing the PIP evaluation process and eligibility criteria, have been referred to by major charity associations as a “full-on assault on disabled people”.
The £64 m WorkWell pilot will help direct people with certain health conditions and disabilities towards local support services that include counselling and physiotherapy to assist them to get back to work.
The plan, launched by the DWP and the Department for Health and Social Care, will join medical assistance and advice on workplace support altogether. It is voluntary, so people could self-refer or be sent to WorkWell by a recruiter or the community sector.
For instance, a GP could send a patient with back pain issues to WorkWell, where an advisor may contact their workplace to make certain adjustments, including flexible working or relocating their office to the ground floor, and giving them access to physiotherapy.
Areas testing the service include:
- Birmingham and Solihull.
- Cambridgeshire.
- Greater Manchester.
- Leicester.
- Parts of north London.
- South Yorkshire.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP, stated: “We are rolling out the next generation of welfare reforms so that thousands more people can gain all the benefits work brings.
“Too many today are falling out of work in a spiral of sickness that harms their finances, their prospects and ultimately their health, where with the right workplace adjustments and help, this needn’t be the case.
“And so we have designed WorkWell, a groundbreaking new service, that will for the first time integrate health and work advice at the local level, as part of our plan to stem the flow into economic inactivity, grow the economy, and change lives for the better.”
Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins MP, said: “Too often, people with disabilities or poor health fall out of work with no support. We have a plan to change that and improve lives so everyone has the opportunity to find fulfilling work.
“This service will help tens of thousands of people, who will receive joined-up work and health support, tailored to their individual needs.
“This service, alongside a faster, simpler and fairer health service, will build a healthier workforce, and a stronger economy.”
UK Government Proposes Changes to Fit Note System to Boost Employment and Health Support
According to the DWP, ministers also want to experience the process of including fit notes be integrated with WorkWell, whereby individuals who demand one “have a work and health conversation and are signposted to local employment support services so they can remain in work.”
The previous month, Rishi Sunak announced a plan to have reputed specialist work and health professionals charged with responsibility for issuing fit notes instead of GPs in an attempt to abolish the “sick note culture”.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the current system is letting people down by not putting enough focus on the work they might be able to accomplish.
Labour asserted it will “look closely” at any scheme supporting people into work.
The Opposition party’s acting shadow work and pensions secretary Alison McGovern stated: “But with a record number of people out of work due to sickness and millions of people on spiralling NHS and mental health waiting lists, we need a long-term plan to fix our NHS and get Britain working, not more pilots skirting around the edges.
“Labour’s plan to get Britain working will drive down NHS waiting lists, reform job centres, make work pay, and support people into good jobs across every part of the country. Change with Labour can’t come soon enough.”