7 July 2005 - Publication of dwp research report 257: Key Findings and Publication of DWP Research Report: Exploring how General Practitioners work with patients on sick leave: A study commissioned as part of the ‘Job Retention and Rehabilitation Pilot’ evaluation.
A research report published today by the Department for Work and Pensions provides findings from research to explore GPs' approaches to managing sickness absence and assisting patients to return to work. The report covers the roles that GPs play in managing sickness absence, GPs' perceptions of the extent of their remit in sickness absence management, the types of discussions they have with patients, the factors that influence their approaches and how they work with other specialists and organisations.
Key Findings
- GPs view sickness absence as almost always genuine. However, patients’ behaviour and motivation is influenced by subjective reactions to the experience of illness, organisational culture and financial circumstances.
- GPs generally felt that a return to work can be of benefit to patients for a range of physical, social and psychological reasons. This view was qualified where work was poorly paid and of low status and where the job itself caused or exacerbated the illness.
- GPs stated the importance of preserving the doctor-patient relationship, shortage of time during consultations, having limited occupational health expertise and difficulties in providing continuity of care and thus building up an in-depth knowledge of the patient as constraints in providing fitness for work advice.
- GPs’ approaches to discussing a return to work fell into three broad categories. The most proactive GPs described detailed discussions with patients about returning to work. The least proactive described no discussion of work, or limited discussion only if the patient raised it or the absence was clearly unmerited. In between were GPs who discussed work less emphatically than the first group, and who did not proceed if they met with resistance from the patient.
- While GPs made extensive referrals to other services within their own clinics and the wider NHS, it was rare for these to have a work rehabilitation focus.
Notes to Editors
- Exploring how General Practitioners work with patients on sick leave: ‘A study commissioned as part of the Job Retention and Rehabilitation Pilot evaluation’ is published today in the DWP Research Report Series: report number 257. A summary and copy of the report are available on the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/
- The Job Retention and Rehabilitation Pilot (JRRP) is a research trial sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health that aims to test the net and relative impact of a health and/or work related early boosted intervention to help people who are at risk of losing their job through disability or ill health return to work and remain in sustainable employment. The pilot began in April 2003 and service delivery ended in March 2005, JRRP ran in six areas and 2845 people were recruited into the trial. The main evaluation of the trial will be available at the end of the year.
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