DWP Work Coaches to go into MH wards

A healthier nation will absolutely help grow the economy. But I don't want the NHS run to help the economy, I want it run to help people's health. Otherwise people who, for instance, can't work, will end up with substandard treatment.

I don't actually agree that people should want to be in work either. If you're able to, for instance, be a SAHP, or take early retirement, and that's what you want to do, what's wrong with that?

It takes a lot to be hospitalized with mental health problems nowadays, this is just a gimmick along with fat jabs , because they need to pretend the decline we are in is the fault of the unemployed .

More people in work/healthier = more tax revenue without having to increase taxes.

Of course, people should want to be in work and those of working age who are healthy should be in work?

This government are absolutely determined to conflate healthcare and the economy, aren't they?

At this rate, it won't be long before you get better/quicker treatment on the NHS if you're of working age/ having to be off work sick/ etc.

The article isn't talking about addicts, it's specifically talking about people with serious mental health issues.

Liz Kendall is talking about trials which had great results but hasn't shown anyone the evidence.

She's saying that she wants to do it because she wants to shrink the disability bill and that the UK workforce hasn't sprung back since COVID.

We're all aware that the UK has had severe cutbacks to services with austerity policies which other European countries haven't experienced. These cut backs included lack of investment in the NHS and social services. The Tories also cut Council budgets and severely cut funding to the third sector.

This has resulted in many people unable to work as they await treatment including practically non existent mental health treatment.

Kendall spoke of people losing their benefits and using that as a stick to 'incentivise' people to get back to work.

Do you really believe that someone discharged from hospital with a serious mental health problem should be forced to get back to work or lose their benefits?

Wouldn't it be better to invest in mental health services and provide appropriate support to those with serious mental health issues? To provide compassionate care to people before they reach crisis point?

Unfortunately, nuance doesn't get the headlines, so it's no longer fashionable in politics.

I wish they'd just have a look at the whole system and rather than come up with these one size fits all approaches, actually apply some common sense. There are so many people for whom this scheme won't be suitable (and a few for whom it might).

I'm on LCWRA and want to work, but as far as the DWP is concerned, I can only either not work, or accept the first job I'm offered even if it isn't compatible with my conditions. There's no middle ground for "we'll help you upskill so you can access a job you can do".

I agree. Maybe some kind of free, shared accommodation where they could work in return for food and board. No access to alcohol or drugs, a proper routine and company from fellow unfortunates.

I'm surprised no-one has thought of it before.

And why am i moving the goal posts talking about addicts?
There was a large addiction treatment inpatients unit in the.mental health Trust I worked ,for we had several specialist units not just acute wards .

As someone who had a family member who was frequently sectioned. It might of been helpful in a way, they sort of bounced from a section to falling back in with a dodgy crowd and some recreational drug taking. Actually some solid help on a next step which wasn’t relatively easy benefit money and boredom might of been good for them. They sadly died but having a schedule of work or training and a plan to move forward with could surely benefit some people.

Totally agree ,but not all inpatient wards are acute inpatient wards
And for some people albeit probably a limited number of pstients this might ,be helpful
Again.i seriously dounbt they would be allowed to wander around thw wards randomly

A work coach when you've had a mental crisis is trying to put a sticky plaster on a broken arm.

The real need is for early intervention and access to mental health support at a much earlier stage before you hit crisis point.

But the government won't fund that. Cos on paper it looks like it's expensive (in reality it's probably more than cost effective because crisis treatment is so expensive).

Part of this includes shitty CAHMS support meaning that kids who would have benefitted from help age 12 or 13 spend years in the system waiting for support and then effectively age out and have to start over as well as dealing with huge life changing which sets up a chain of issues with confidence, anxiety, depression.

If someone had bothered to life coach as a teen, they would have avoided the mess in the first place.

Oh dear the DWP Strike again. They aren't work coaches either, they are admin assistants.

It could literally just be the opportunity to have a talk with an employment specialist and take a leaflet for when you are feeling better. For a lot of people having the hope that there is support to go back to work would be helpful I genuinely believe. Plus I am a bit sick of a defeatist attitude being taken that actually infantilises people with mental illnesses and helps no-one. Of all the things to get in a froth about some people on a mental health ward being offered some info/ support about work is surely not the hill to die on.

You're a nurse, you realise that people in psych wards are often very ill. We know that because beds are so difficult to get.

Often patients are patched up and discharged, many won't be ready to walk straight into a job from hospital. For some, psych wards are a revolving door.

My friend had psychosis, was discharged then had a complete breakdown and was unable to function. She wouldn't have benefited from a chat with a job's advisor.

Now you're moving the goalposts and talking about addicts.

So you work in them? As what? And how recently? Because I don't recognise the idea of disruptive people being in PICU wards, in my experience these days, pretty much every single patient is very ill and sometimes disruptive. 20 years ago, maybe. But even then, wards have never been a relaxing or pleasant environment.

Seeing someone to make sure you're getting the support you are eligible for is completely different to sending people in to give CV tips and suggest suitable employment. Give people a chance to return to something closer to normal functioning fgs. I don't need yet more pressure and lack of empathy when I'm already in a fucking miserable pit of despair.

Given how unwell people have to be to get inpatient care isn't this the equivalent of going into an ICU and discussing how the patient will be getting back to work? Really NOT convinced by this idea at all.

Well if you had bothered to read the thread,
I have said several times, that I used to be a mental health nurse yes most patients will be very unwell on acute mental health wards
Andxthis wouldn't be suitable
Occasionally we has patients who were waiting for suitable accommodation and couldn't be discharged
This might help to maintain the mental health in some cases
Also i uses to work for a very large mental health Trust and there were several specialist in patient units for patients, recovering from,drug/ alcohol addiction, rehab etc
It might be suitable for some of these patients.

This is probably just the extension of a successful scheme called IPS which helps MH service users match to suitable jobs and crucially gives support to employers too with reasonable adjustments and reducing barriers to access work.

IPS is very much welcomed by service users and has been helpful to a lot of people. My clients with severe and enduring mental illness very often do want to do at least some work for their own self esteem as much as anything else. It's one of the most popular and successful services we offer I have found.

Admittedly maybe an inpatient ward isn't the place you would start but I bet this is just building on the current outpatient scheme.

ipsgrow.org.uk/about/what-is-ips/

Maybe let's not believe every bit of negativity published by the right wing press.

Have you ever been a patient or worked on a ward? I have and I can tell you that the vast majority of people are either worried about getting back to their previous job after being ill or want to look for work as part of their recovery goal. What support do we have currently for these people? None!
I have posted about my DH before under a different username. He was sectioned as a result of severe depression and psychosis for 8 weeks. This was partly caused by redundancy. He has very recently come home but one of his main worries is that he doesn't know what to do with regards to job searching. He is feeling much better but he would have benefitted I think from having someone to talk through his concerns and options while he was in hospital and feeling better about going into applying to work again. Some people, when they are better ( as seen from the trial at the Maudsley) need to see some kind of pathway back to a normal life. Now what has happened is that he has just been discharged as he is well, he has people scheduled to call him to see how he's getting on at home but regarding the job situation neither of us have any idea, apart from the job centre saying to me when I took in his hospital certificate to sign him off said ' Don't worry we'll get a job coach to speak to him' and that's separate from MH services. Some people will not be capable of accessing the services but I can't believe my DH is the only person who would need or want, maybe near to discharge, to get back to work and suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar situation as a result of a first mental health situation.

WTF 🤬 😳

Then who? Most people on psych wards are seriously ill or they wouldn't be there.

Not always while eating cake but certainly plenty of chatting about their worries. Supporting people with wider social issues is very much a therapeutic intervention under the biopsychosocial model of health.
A lot of people on here seem to think that wards consist of people trashing about an peeing on the floor in complete delusion which is a very Victorian idea of mental asylum. The reality is that MH wards are a mixed bag and most disruptive patients are seen in PICU.
And one of the hospitals I worked in had a whole separate therapy building with a sensory room, group room and a kitchen where cakes were baked and consumed by patients. They also had 7 OTs and 4 psychologists per 26 patients which was a real treat. Most hospitals aren't like that but they are no Victorian asylums either and plenty of people need to see a social worker about their benefits while they are there.

Obviously not those people ,as they are unlikely to be able to consent anyway.

It very much depends what the I mention is. I doubt it is to target those in acute mental crisis. However, a number of patients, after receiving the right treatment (that they couldn't get in the community) will remain in hospital for a while to ensure they become stable before being discharge. It might be good, for these patients, to start considering their path back (or new) to employment before they are left on their own, with the potential to be isolated and see their depression or anxiety resurfacing again.

I expect this intervention would only target a limited number of patients.

Newspapers only share information for the purpose of sensationalism. Let's look at it from a more rounded approach as to why this might be considered beneficial rather than automatically assuming the worse.