Fit for Work Phil Kirk Director of Marketing and Communications 25 th May 2016

More than 900,000 absences of four weeks or more each year in the UK Much reduced chance of no return to work after 4 weeks without intervention and 600,000 people fall into the benefits system each year For most people, their work is a key determinant of self-worth, family esteem, identity and standing within the community, besides, of course, material progress and a means of social participation and fulfilment (Dame Carol Black, 2008) Currently OH services are available to around 20% of the UK population Part of the aim is to support employees back into work without always requiring 100% fitness to achieve this All assessments use a bio psycho social approach to ensure that these factors and behaviours are considered 2

Service Scope: what the DWP has asked for An Advice Service – phone line and website – open to all, for general queries about matters affecting work and health A voluntary Return to Work Service for employees who are off work due to sickness GPs can make referrals at any stage, at the GP’s discretion, when the absence is likely to last for 4 weeks or more (but ideally certify for 1-2 weeks) Employers can make referrals after 4 weeks of sickness absence Eligibility: Off work from paid employment, Living in England/Wales, have a fit note from GP, No previous referral in last 12 months. The output of the service is a Return to Work Plan agreed with the employee, which functions as evidence of fitness for work The assessment and RtWP development is carried out by a health professional 3

The Referral Process 4

Fit for Work GP feedback Dr Avi Prasad, Leicestershire GP and CCG co-chair: “As a GP, I want to see that my patients are fully looked after and supported. Patients who have been off for over four weeks will now have the opportunity to get an occupational health assessment by a health professional and the aim of Fit for Work will be not only to help get people back to work successfully but also to improve the overall health of the patient.” 5 Dr. Mohammed Sohail Khan, GP in Yorkshire: “The fact that Fit for Work works directly with patients and their employers means that everyone - the patient, the employer, and me, the GP – is saved time; and the care the patient receives is more joined-up.” Dr. Simon Dobson, GP in Wales: “The good thing about the service is that it means I can refer patients to people who are experts in occupational health, which isn’t something we are trained in as GPs. This helps patients get back to work quicker, and it also saves me so much time. It also means that there is a better standard of care for the patient, because they are dealing with someone trained in occupational health, who can help them create a personalised plan to help them get back to work in a way that suits them. I’m hopeful that more GPs will start referring patients to Fit for Work – it means less time writing sick notes and more time focusing on patients’ health.”

Fit for Work Employer feedback 6 Gemma Rylatt, manager at Humberston Park School: “Fit for Work helped make our employee’s return to work really simple – without them we would have had to go through a lengthy process, doing things like writing to her doctors. Fit for Work helped cut out that long- winded process and did all of the legwork for us, which was really helpful from a business perspective.” Philip Horsfield, practice manager at Village Green Surgery: “I know that our employee felt very comfortable talking to the Fit for Work case manager. She just needed to build up her confidence again so that she could ease back into work. “She returned on exactly the date agreed in her Return to Work Plan – the process was very quick and efficient. The experiences we’ve had with Fit for Work were great and I couldn’t be happier with how the service works.”

Fit for Work 2016 and beyond What are the key challenges? Awareness – we want Fit for Work to become the default response nationwide for people who hit four weeks sickness absence The biopsychosocial approach – how do the different aspects really work, especially the non-health and non-work aspects? Our approach to businesses – working in conjunction with OH services in larger businesses, while continuing to promote the service to SMEs with a lack of OH provision 7 In the pipeline Service improvement - As use of the service increases, we will have more MI and satisfaction data to challenge processes and promote continuous improvement Service evaluation - We are starting longer-term evaluation, provided by the Institute for Employment Studies, that will allow us to learn and apply lessons about the way the service works Other services - There is potential to look at how wrap-around treatment and intervention services could complement Fit for Work (such as the Welsh Government-funded successor services to the Rhyl pilot).

Thank you!

Lisa, production administrator case study Employee 9 Employee’s story: A painful joint condition flare up meant that Lisa* was left unable to walk and had to stay home from work. Fit for Work helped her to fully understand her recovery process and speak to her employer about making workplace adjustments so that she could return to work successfully. So many people off sick feel under pressure to get back to work and feel like they are at home for the wrong reasons. Fit for Work created a realistic plan that would help me return to work with adjustments at a sensible pace.” My manager was really supportive, and agreed to complete ergonomic and risk assessments in our workplace, which was a suggestion made in my Return to Work Plan. The plan helped to guide me through the process of getting back to work, in a way that suited me.” Name: Lisa Age: 56 Job role: Production administrator * Name has been changed The people at Fit for Work were really friendly, and they fully understood my condition and the problems it was causing me. I was really stressed out about missing work, but I was also worried that if I forced myself back to the plant too quickly it could make my arthritis worse.”

Lisa, production administrator case study Employer 10 Employer story: Andy Picker, operations manager at Lisa’s firm, spoke to Fit for Work to ensure that Lisa would be safe at work once she returned. We’re a big company so we have lots of protocols in place for things like this, but having a health professional from Fit for Work speak to me about Lisa’s specific situation was really helpful. As a company, we really care about our team members, but I’ve dealt with a lot of companies in the past who don’t have the same level of care as we do. I can see Fit for Work being extra helpful for companies like that, because it helps to bridge that gap. Because of her condition, Lisa uses a stick to get around now. Fit for Work suggested that we do a risk assessment of things like our fire evacuation policy, and re-evaluate so that we knew she would be safe if anything like a fire did happen.