New work reforms will help employees stay in work
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New governmental proposals governing the administration of
assistance to those who are out of work will have a substantial
positive effect on people with emotional health difficulties
looking to return to employment or in need in of support to stay in
their job, the Sainsbury's Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) has
assured.
The new guidelines, which come in response to a report authored
by Dame Carol Black, have a wide-reaching remit and will aim to
provide remedy to a host of physical and emotional health problems
that are currently a barrier to employment for people throughout
Britain.
While being out of work for long periods has a substantial
economic impact in terms of the provision of welfare and the losses
arising from workplace absences, Dame Carol's report also iterated
that being out of employment can have a significant detrimental
effect on people's health and social life.
In a bid to reduce the number of people who are out of work for
health reasons and help to keep people in work, the report called
upon the government to enact a number of key initiatives, which
include a new national strategy for mental health and employment,
further development of the NHS Plus programme to improve clinical
and occupational health standards and the creation of a new
electronic "fit note".
This last initiative - which aims to refocus workplace attitudes
towards illness on what employees are able to do instead of what
they cannot - has been widely welcomed by ministers but has met
criticism from other quarters.
One partial opponent of the new scheme is Dr Laurence Buckman,
chairman of the British Medical Association's General Practitioners
Committee, who has warned that it could put an unreasonable burden
on GPs and compromise their relationship with the patient.
"The new fit note has potential but we would like to see the
findings of this evaluation because it's crucial GPs can continue
to act as the patient's advocate and don't end up policing the
system for the Department for Work and Pensions," he said.
However, Andy Bell, head of public affairs at the Sainsbury
Centre, has clarified that, if implemented successfully, the new
measures will allow GPs to serve as a critical first point of
contact for those who are struggling to stay in the workplace due
to illness, without requiring that they adopt a role of an
occupational health specialist.
Mr Bell explained that in addition to the new system of fit
notes, the new framework will include substantial expansion and new
investment in programmes such as Pathways to Work - a project
overseen by the Department for Work and Pensions which focuses on
getting people back into employment by assessing their capabilities
and competences instead of the limitations of their illness - which
will serve to alleviate the burden on GPs to provide specialist
occupational healthcare support.
So too, Mr Bell added that the new framework will provide
additional support by "using existing people in occupational health
to give them further skills or using the skills of people who work
in occupational therapy but are not being used in the right kind of
way".
This, he stated, will help the UK to offer occupational support
services that are more robust and comparable to other leading
countries.
In these countries, it is common to train vocational
rehabilitation specialists to offer comprehensive assistance to
those who are out of work or struggling to stay in employment due
to physical or emotional health difficulties.
"Vocational rehabilitation is a specialty in some
English-speaking countries [such as] Canada, New Zealand and
Australia, and here it is not.
"The closest we've got to it is occupational therapy. And very
often occupational therapists provide a really valuable service but
their number is comparatively small compared to the level of need
there is for support and indeed compared to the benefits that can
be accrued from investing in that support," Mr Bell explained.
And with the establishment of a new occupational health helpline
for smaller businesses and other measures, Mr Bell explained that
the expanded support services will not be limited to those who work
in large organisations.
He noted that by pooling resources or contracting trained
occupational health workers to conduct support, with additional
financial support from the government, small businesses can provide
the same level of care afforded to those working to larger
organisations.
Indeed, he noted that in circumstances, a smaller organisation
may be more able to assist those with physical or mental health
difficulties than larger businesses because there is a personal
awareness of the person in need of help.
"Their line manager is absolutely critical ... A good,
understanding supportive line worker can make all the difference in
keeping someone in work," he insisted.
Meanwhile for those who are currently out of work due to
long-term physical or mental health problems, Mr Bell insisted that
the Pathways to Work programme can help to provide expert support,
in addition to financial assistance for those seeking
employment.
The Pathways to Work is currently operating in 40 per cent of
the country under the management of Jobcentre Plus, with the
remaining portion afforded assistance by third-party
contractors.
Information on the scheme can be found at jobcentreplus.gov.uk
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