Government plans to get long term sick back to work.

[Miley1967]

Does anyone have any information about how the Government are planning to get long term sick/ disabled back to work? I have read there is a paper being published/ announced this week. In my local area ( East Midlands) I have seen jobs advertised this week ( multiple jobs) for health and work coaches but employed through the NHS and based in Gp surgeries, so it does seem as though they are already taking steps to implement this.
Just a bit worried for some of my clients( I work in benefits advice work ) as to whether this is going to be pushed on them or if it's a scheme they will choose to be part of and just wondering what it is going to entail, will these coaches be working with employers who are genuinely going to be able to support this group of people into work?

If the correct support is there it would be so good to get people off the sick and back to work

@anniegun , you associate this government with The Daily Mail?

@PurpleSparkledPixie , I loathe this government but if they actually follow meaningfully through with this then they will have done one decent thing. Those of us who work and pay our taxes should know that the shiftless and lazy aren’t having a free ride at our expense.

They could save a lot of money by getting rid of stupid repeated checks on people with chronic illness/disability whose GPs or consultants could tell you - once and only once - that this person will is unable to work, and you could take their word for it because they're a goddamn medical professional.

A lot of people would love to go back to work, but many have conditions that fluctuate and there aren't many jobs that will take people who may be unpredictably unable to work for between a few days and a few months even though they may be totally OK to do so at other times. No one is enjoying living solely on benefits. No one.

Reducing more people to poverty is both cruel and expensive - it just results in more mental and phsyical illness, homeleness and crime.

@Intheoldendays , Jesus what a waste of resources! I hope they are more effective getting the terminally workshy off their sorry arses.

Through the NHS? If the NHS are using work coaches they had better have a bloody thick skin because they are going to be having appointments with patients stuck on long waiting lists who are going to tell some home truths!

the stupid cunt had to be told by a radio interviewer that a 63 year old cant get Pension Credit.

What jobs will they be doing though? With the NMW & Employer NI raises, companies are already talking about having to make staff reductions.

It really won't be. Starmer is all talk and no action. Nothing will change.

Yeah, you are probably right.

Starmer said in an article for the DM that he plans to employ them in the NHS in easy to do roles

But they do not need to make staff reductions. They need to reduce their profit margins, which are extortoniate for a grand majority of them.
Do not let them fool you. A big % of the price crisis we had on the COL is due to companies refusing to set a healthy profit margin.

They could start by treating the illness or disability. That would be a new approach - not terrifying people on 3 year waiting lists.

Every time the government changes they spew out a load of bollocks about how disabled people are bone idle, benefits scrounging liars and how they are practically bankrupting the nation.
The fact is way more benefits remain unclaimed than people allegedly committing fraud.
We won't stand for it. The most vulnerable in society being victimised. To think we voted for them in the hope they cared about people?
It's disgusting and it will make people sicker, not more 'capable of work' if they're forced into things they cannot manage to do.

I do hope that they mean they will sort the waiting lists, rather than making disable people lives worst.
There is much to gain to get those waiting for surgeries and treatments that will restore workers to a fit condition and able to take their role back. Nothing to gain chasing disable people.
It is a bit more complex with mental health issues, as each case will be different.

Credit to Labour - they are alienating everyone.

In reality they need to fix the NHS waiting times first and then have a look at people with long term sick fit notes.

As for the disabled, there isn't much that can be done. Some people clearly have to rely on benefits for their lifetime.
I think the media needs to stop making out that everyone on benefits is a burden to society.

Remember, absolutely anyone could rock up to work tomorrow and be made redundant. Or they could have a life changing accident and never work again.

Well yes, but that’s what savings/capital reserves and insurance are for.

To be fair this would be one big positive if they do push on with these changes- fixing the NHS. I know the plans included trying to sort the ridiculous waiting times out, more recruitment in so that they can see & help people much quicker. If cutting the benefits bill is the motivation the government need to sort that out then that’s still a win if they carry through and do it.

There are so many people who aren’t working who would like to be or would IF they could due to physical or mental health issues, as I say I know of multiple people I worked with who have been off for long periods of time waiting for various surgeries/treatments and cannot physically work until then, if they can get people seen and better quickly then those people can then get back to work. If they can make it so that mental health services can be accessed promptly rather than 12+ months later then you’ll have far less people who hit breaking point while on the waiting list and cannot continue to work.

There are of course people who are unwell, and will not be able to work or return to work and I’d hope those people will be noted and any changes won’t make their lives any harder.

Well said!

Exactly. Apparently each town council has to speak to charities and employers abut ways to get folk working again. I work for a charity and it's going to be struggling to survive when these new NI hikes come in. We have already been more or less told there could be job cuts as they have no way of funding this huge hike. So I'm not sure how charities will be able to find work for long term sick hoping to re-enter the workforce unless they are going to do voluntary work.

IF, and it's a big if, they actually fix the NHS so at the very least the short term ill can return to work then yes it would be amazing however, just from past experiences of whichever political group has been in charge I am very cynical and assume they will go the easy route of kicking long term ill people off benefits with no safety net.

the shiftless and lazy/workshy know how to game the system so they will continue to live off benefits. The long term ill and disabled don't, and it's them who will be more impacted unfortunately.

It really won't be. Starmer is all talk and no action. Nothing will change.

@taxguru probably has it, it'll be like all the other lines that sound more than do

Enter workfare again by the back door

I'm reserving judgement until the White Paper is published. This is the one policy area that put me off voting Labour as the rhetoric before the GE was very Tory, albeit not quite as cruel.

I have a feeling some of the proposals will be more bark than bite (for example, people are already sanctioned if they can't show they are looking for work, what is going to change?) but we'll see.

Meanwhile, it is funny to see some Tory posters twisting in the wind over this. They hate benefit claimants on one hand, but don't want to be seen to agree with anything Labour does on the other.