Government announces two year pilot requiring people on sickness benefits to have regular meetings with doctors, occupational health nurses and therapists to help them address their barriers to work – or face losing their benefits
Around 3,000 people on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who have been assessed as being able to work in the future will have regular appointments with healthcare professionals as a condition of receiving their benefit. The meetings will focus on helping claimants to move closer to being able to get a job.
The proposed pilot scheme will compare the help given by doctors, occupational health nurses and therapists to 2 other pilot schemes to see which is best at helping people off sickness benefits and into work.
The regular discussions are intended to focus claimants on how they can improve their view of their readiness for work by taking steps to manage their health issues. The three schemes are:
- health care professional-led – mandatory engagement with health care professionals
- Jobcentre Plus – enhanced Jobcentre Plus support
- Work Programme – enhanced support designed by Work Programme provider
The pilots will begin in November and will run until August 2016. They will involve people on ESA in the work related activity group who are expected to be able to return to work in 18 months or over.
For moiré information see www.gov.uk/government/news/help-for-people-on-sickness-benefits-to-address-barriers-to-work
Disability Rights UK believes that compulsion should not be placed on people living with health conditions - it should be placed on health and social care providers, to offer practical advice and support to keep or get employment. Our members tell us over and over that if, for instance, they have a spinal injury or are diagnosed with a long term health condition, they get inadequate information and support. As one person put it
'the people who come in to spinal injury units to inspire us talk about walking to the north pole - but never mention employment. All the volunteers are unemployed. We have to find our way back into employment ourselves'.
Health and social services providers need to radically improve the employment support they offer. And it should be voluntary. It is time to stop blaming people living with health conditions for the failures of the system.