The government has earmarked 15 areas across England that will pilot the WorkWell scheme designed to help people with health conditions back to work.
Last year the chancellor announced plans to pilot a new WorkWell programme that would integrate employment and health support. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has this month revealed the 15 areas that will become part of the £64m pilot, which from October will aim to connect an estimated 59,000 people to local support services such as physiotherapy and counselling.
It said WorkWell will provide a single, joined-up assessment of an individuals’ ability to work with their condition or disability, and identify workplace adjustments or support that would enable them to stay in or return to work sooner, such as flexible working or the use of adaptive technology.
Participation in WorkWell will be voluntary. Individuals will be able to self-refer, but GPs, employers or community services will also be able to refer people to the service.
Participants will receive personalised support from a ‘work and health coach’, who will seek to understand the health and social barriers preventing them from working in order to develop a plan to overcome these issues. This forms part of the Government's welfare reforms as they confirmed plans to overhaul the fit note system and move responsibility for assessing fitness to work away from GPs to specialist work and health professionals.
The 15 integrated care systems that will pilot the WorkWell service are:
Birmingham and Solihull
Black Country
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Coventry and Warwickshire
Frimley
Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Greater Manchester
Lancashire and South Cumbria
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
North Central London
North West London
South Yorkshire
Surrey Heartlands
We will keep you updated as we learn more about what this means to us, currently at Glen we are managing sick costs of around £200,000 per annum. Our Managers are trained in managing both short term and long-term absences.