Work and Health Support Scheme Will End ‘Spiral of Sickness’: Minister

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride leaving 10 Downing Street following a Cabinet meeting in London, on Jan. 30, 2024. Victoria Jones/PA

The work and pensions secretary has launched a pilot service combining workplace advice and health support to assist people with long-term conditions stay in employment, which he says will end the “spiral of sickness.”

On Tuesday, Mel Stride MP launched the WorkWell programme, which sees the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Health and Social Care partner to offer bespoke support to some 59,000 people at risk of falling out of the workforce.

Starting in October, the £64 million plan will target 15 areas from across the country, including parts which have had high numbers of people signed off sick from work, including Greater Manchester and the Black Country, which combined saw over a million Fit Notes issued last year.

Mr. Stride said in a statement that too many people 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,” he added.

The move comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced reforms to the benefits system which he said would mean the end of “sick note culture.”

Work ‘Improves Wellbeing’

The pilot will take place across the UK, including in Birmingham, the Black Country, Bristol, Cornwall, Greater Manchester, parts of London, and South Yorkshire.

“The WorkWell service provides a single, joined-up assessment and gateway into both employment support and health services locally to help people manage their conditions and to identify workplace adjustments or support that would enable them to stay in work or return sooner,” the DWP said in a statement.

For example, someone with chronic back pain and depression is signed off work and considering dropping out of employment altogether. They would be referred to WorkWell by their employer and the person will meet with a work and health coach for an assessment that could result in physiotherapy, meeting a counsellor, and workplace adjustments such as flexible hours or work-from-home. The service could also include referrals for training in order to explore different career opportunities.

The service is voluntary, so people could self-refer or be sent to the service by a GP, employer, or the community sector. Participants do not need to be claiming benefits to take part.

“Evidence shows that work is an effective way to improve wellbeing – reducing the risk of depression, improving physical health, and building self-confidence and financial independence,” the DWP said, echoing earlier remarks from Mr. Stride when, in March, he said that work is good for mental health. The minister had gone on to suggest that mental health culture was going “too far” and had pathologised the normal ups and downs of life.

WorkWell is part of the government’s £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, which aims to assist some 1.1 million people with long-term conditions and the long-term unemployed stay in and get back into work.

11 Million Fit Notes Issued Last Year

Minsters also want the Fit Note process integrated into WorkWell, which the DWP said would enable “the people who need it to have a work and health conversation, with a single, joined-up assessment and gateway into local employment support services.”

After the UK saw 94 percent of the 11 million Fit Notes issued last year signed off as “not fit for work,” the prime minister proposed last month that the Fit Note system would be taken away from GPs and handed to specialist work and health professionals to assess someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they may need.

Last month, the work and pensions secretary launched a consultation on reforming personal independence payments (PIPs) which could see a move away from cash benefits for some conditions in favour of other support mechanisms such as vouchers or one-off grants for home adjustments.

Charity Scope called the proposals a “reckless assault” on disabled people, with its Executive Director of Strategy, Impact, and Social Change James Taylor saying, “It’s hard to have any faith that this consultation is about anything other than cutting the benefits bill, no matter the impact.”

“Life costs a lot more for disabled people, including people with mental health conditions,” Mr. Taylor continued. “Threatening to take away the low amount of income PIP provides won’t solve the country’s problems.”

The DWP said the latest figures show there are 2.8 million people in the UK who are “economically inactive” owing to long-term sickness, a near-record high.

In April, the prime minister said that the rising number of people who are long-term sick was “economically unsustainable.”

The Resolution Foundation think tank has warned that the benefits system would have to change how it operates because its design did not anticipate the “steep rise” in the number of people with ill health or disabilities.