To help support people to stay in or return to work more quickly when they develop a health condition or impairment, the Government has
committed to help support local areas develop Fit for Work Services (FFWS) and to robustly evaluate them, in a programme of piloting lasting until at least 2011.
Further to an open and competitive selection process, Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health and Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Department of Work and Pensions, have announced the first Fit for Work Pilots:
- Scotland-wide
- Dundee
- Rhyl
- Birmingham
- Eastern & Coastal Kent
- Kensington & Chelsea
- Leicestershire
- North Staffordshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Wakefield District
All of the FFWS Pilots were selected because of their commitment to and potential for fulfilling the objectives of the FFWS Programme. As such, they are all providing personalised and timely back-to-work support primarily for people off sick from work, to enable them to make an earlier return to work than they otherwise would, and to remain there. Support comprises health, employability and wider social support service elements, and is focussed on addressing health inequalities. All of the FFWS Pilots include case managers who will ensure that clients are helped to access the most appropriate forms of support in a timely fashion.
Each of the pilot site areas is committed to engendering a culture that recognises and supports the fact that for most people work is good for health and returning to work at the appropriate time is part of the recovery process.
Central Government funding is being used to 'pump prime' pilot activity - to assist with the costs of re-configuring existing services and developing any new service elements not already in place. Although central government funds are only currently available until March 2011, all of the FFWS Pilots are committed to ensuring their FFWS is sustainable over the longer-term.
Talking about the pilots Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health, said:
'We have a moral and economic obligation to help people who have suffered ill health to get back to work as soon as possible. Unemployment and lost working days caused by ill health costs the economy £100 billion a year and we know that being in work can be good for your wellbeing. Our Fit for Work schemes will test new, innovative and personalised services to help people back into work. We want these pilots to have a real impact and show us what works best so we can build on this investment in the future.'
Further details on pilot sites:
Scotland-wide
A large scale, Scotland wide, FFWS accessible via a freephone national advice line, which will act as a gateway for clients across the country. Telephone advisers will 'triage' calls to determine support required, and will either provide advice and signpost self-help resources, or refer those that need more support onwards to the relevant local FFWS of which there will be 14 - one in each Health Board area. Services that qualify as FFWS's are already up and running in 3 of the 14 Health Board areas, one of which is Dundee (see below); FFWS funding will facilitate the set up of services in the other 11 areas. Each of the FFWS's will have a strong focus on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) without occupational health support and on those in low paid employment.
Dundee
Funding will enable this existing health and employability service, which qualifies as a FFWS, to expand the range of services it already provides exclusively to employees of SMEs in Dundee, and integrate into the Scotland-wide approach (above). This model is aiming to identify optimal support not only for sickness absentees but also for even earlier intervention, in providing support to 'presentees' - individuals with ill-health who continue to work but who are at risk of sickness absence and loss of employment - who currently form 72% of the current caseload. The service has already been running for one year; supporting its ongoing development provides an opportunity to generate longer-term data.
Rhyl
This FFWS will provide support in a coastal, deprived area and be run by a City Strategy Partnership. Case Managers will be based in GP practices providing scope for co-location with physiotherapy, psychological therapies and other support services as a 'one stop' shop approach.
Leicester City & Leicestershire
This model focuses on optimising GP referrals of sickness absentees to the case-managed FFWS so that GPs will come to view such referrals as being as much a part of their day-to-day patient care as requesting a blood test or X ray. The pilot will also provide services to a very small number of workless people whose specific health & employability needs cannot be met by one of the existing frameworks of support that ably support the majority of people on Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.
Nottinghamshire
The City Strategy Partnership, led by Nottinghamshire Employment and Skills Board, will expand on small scale pilots that are currently testing support for both businesses and individuals. The FFWS Working for Health element will provide support for businesses to enable them to better support people with ill-health and facilitate a speedier return to work for people off sick. The FFWS Support into Work element will provide support for individual sickness absentees, which will be delivered by a team of specialist occupational therapists with particular expertise in common mental health problems and musculoskeletal disorders. A FFWS Work Survival element will provide vocational rehabilitation for individuals within a group environment.
Central West Midlands
This FFWS will operate in localities within Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell & Solihull. Whilst its primary focus is on providing support to sickness absentees, it will also extend access to the FFWS to a small number of unemployed people receiving Jobseekers Allowance whose specific needs would benefit from the specialist expertise within the FFWS. The case management function will be provided by a private sector provider.
North Staffordshire/Stoke-on-Trent
This model tests the expansion of the existing NHS team delivering the Condition Management Programme, building on their experience of supporting unemployed people with long-term ill-health problems to return to work, to provide a service that meets the distinctly different needs of people in the earlier stages of sickness absence from work. At a later stage, this FFWS will seek to additionally provide support to a small number of people receiving Jobseekers Allowance whose specific needs would benefit from the specialist expertise within the FFWS.
Eastern and Coastal Kent (Margate)
This FFWS will provide support to sickness absentees in the Margate area, a small, deprived, coastal area, and will focus on optimising GP referrals of sickness absentees. It is proposed that this model be part of the Total Place Initiative, which seeks to establish an innovative multi-agency approach to tackling complex local needs through a preventative 'invest to save' model.
Kensington & Chelsea
An NHS occupational health provider will deliver the case management function and work in partnership with the Royal Borough's Environmental Health Team. There will be a particular focus on supporting employees of small and medium sized employers. Strong linkages will also be made to the local network of employment and skills provision, such as the prototype Adult Advancement Careers Service.
Wakefield District
With its strong, rounded plan for a FFWS model in an area of high deprivation, this FFWS Pilot was selected as a testbed for developing a FFWS from scratch. This will provide an opportunity to demonstrate how to set up the infrastructure, using best practice from other areas that are more developed,forty fiver per cent of the population live in the most deprived areas of the country; the new FFWS will complement ongoing, wider work to raise the aspiration of the population
Library of relevant documents - for information only:
Memorandum of Information(MOI) including details of:
- The objectives of the FFWS Programme of Piloting;
- Who is eligible to apply to become a FFWS Pilot, as an Eligible Partnership;
- Details of how Providers from the public, private and third sectors can get involved;
- The open and competitive process we have put in place to identify and appoint the FFWS Pilots and distribute the FFWS central development fund.
Plenary presentations from the FFWS Information Workshops (March 2009):
Documents relating to the open and competitive selection process:
Selection Questionnaire Part 1
Selection Questionnaire Part 1 - Assessment Sheet
Selection Questionnaire Part 1 - Assessment Methodology
Selection Questionnaire Part 2 - Questionnaire*
Selection Questionnaire Part 2 - Financial Model*
Estimating user demand for a FFWS - FFWS Numerical Model tool.
How you can keep up to date with FFWS developments
If you/your organisation is keen to keep up to date on the latest FFWS news, please email ffws@dh.gsi.gov.uk and ask to receive updates.
Thank you for your interest.
The Fit for Work Service Delivery Team*
* The Fit for Work Service Delivery Team comprises representatives from the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions, which are jointly supporting this programme.
Last updated on 13th October 2009
Disclaimer
Information published on this Fit for Work Service (FFWS) Programme of Piloting website (www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/fit-for-work) is provided without any representation made and without warranty of any kind (whether express or implied), including but not limited to warranties of satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose. While this information has been prepared in good faith, in no event will any of the FFWS Delivery Team, the DH, the DWP, any NHS organisation, nor any of their advisors, duly authorised agents or employees be liable for any loss or damage arising from use of, loss of use of, or reliance on, the Information. Users of the Information are advised to conduct their own due diligence with respect to its accuracy and to seek independent professional and/or legal advice where appropriate. Information or documentation provided on the FFWS website should not be taken in any way as constituting, or as a substitute for, legal advice.