People with LONG TERM Health problems - GPs could refer you to job coaches

nannytone_2

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

MH problems can be quite serious (mine has nearly killed me on a few occasions ), i'm lucky that in my time on ESA i was in the support group, but i imagine if my GP had tried to "encoourage" me back to work it would have been a disaster when i was more ill. At my lowest point the stress would probably have pushed me over the edge. However, that said had it been towards the end of my ESA claim when my MH was more stable i would have welcomed the help. As it is i got my ob with no help, but if they are going to offer help it needs to be appropriate to a persons wellness and stage of recovery.

maybe thats exactly why it should be done via the doctor rather than through the JC?

at the JC, yjr dosbiliyu adviser can refer you to the work programme with no medical knowledge or understanding of your condition.
presumably your GP would have a good overview of what each individual is or isn't capable of managing?

BigAunty

SailorSam wrote: »

Isn't this exactly what is happening at the moment. Anyone claiming Esa will already be called into their local Work Programme, where their coach / advisor will talk to them about getting back into work that they can do.

But the DWP reps at the Job Centres don't get direct access to the claimant's medical records, for starters, and do not have the power to update them. And GPs have never unwittingly provided a route to benefit sanctions being applied to their claimants before.

More info here about the specific reservations.

http://dpac.uk.net/2016/02/why-were-opposed-to-jobs-on-prescription-donoharm/

Here's another article from the critics of the scheme which highlights their concerns.

One is that making the GP an intermediary to reviled job coaches destroys the trust between patient and doctor. It is seen as a collusion that will make them reluctant to visit their GP.

The second is that the pilot is being set up as a scheme that the patient can access voluntarily but this contradicts known Tory policy, so there are fears it will later become mandatory, and part of the sanctions scheme.

http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/protesters-to-march-on-gp-surgery-over-maximus-job-coach-project/

'Jobs on prescription’ is part of toxic and dangerous government plans to merge health and employment services – putting the Jobcentre in the NHS...We do not trust Maximus, nor do we trust the DWP, and we are concerned that people who are in need of treatment will be deterred from seeking help if they have cause to believe that doing so may result in them being ‘prescribed’ employment coaching instead of the treatment that they desperately need. '.

http://dpac.uk.net/2016/02/whats-what-councillor-watts-open-letter-from-mental-health-resistance-network/

Ames

nannytone wrote: »

maybe thats exactly why it should be done via the doctor rather than through the JC?

at the JC, yjr dosbiliyu adviser can refer you to the work programme with no medical knowledge or understanding of your condition.
presumably your GP would have a good overview of what each individual is or isn't capable of managing?

Will GPs have time to sit down with the job coach and go through each patient and their needs?

Done well, sensitively, and with the knowledge and consent of the claimant this could be a positive thing. But, given the 'bedroom tax' and work programme, I really don't trust the government to do that. I imagine corners will be cut, and it'll end up just being 'here's a list of all your patients that are on ESA, talk to them and let me know when they're here'. And when you think of how many patients the big clinics have, it's going to be a huge task for job coaches, how are they supposed to offer tailored support to everyone?

Plus, how much is it going to cost? Not just for the job coach, but the GPs time in talking to patients about it?

I guess I just can't see how it can work properly.

Jane_gs

Ames wrote: »

Will GPs have time to sit down with the job coach and go through each patient and their needs?

Unless they consider taking it home as homework