5 March 2008 - Publication of DWP Research Report 479: Evaluation 0f the GP Education Pilot: Health And Work In General Practice
Research published today by the DWP presents findings of an evaluation of the GP Education Pilot, comprised of workshops delivered by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) during 2007. The workshops were designed to raise awareness of the evidence on the links between health and work, and increase engagement with these issues.
The findings will contribute to the development of further measures to implement the government’s Health, Work and Wellbeing strategy.
The main findings are:
- Many GPs claimed to have received little or no training on health and work issues beyond sickness certification, and this affected their confidence in dealing with these issues in a clinical context.
- The overall view from GPs was that the workshops were very useful. The majority of GPs (66%) rated the workshop as excellent or very good.
- Levels of confidence in dealing with health and work issues rose after the workshop. For example, around a third (33%) of GPs were very or fairly confident advising on fitness for work before the workshop, compared to 79% immediately afterwards.
- There is some evidence that the workshops positively influenced GPs attitudes to health and work issues, as well as influencing the way they dealt with their patients. For example, immediately after the workshops, 95% of GPs agreed that the workshop made a strong case that health and work is an important issue that needs to be tackled, and over 90% agreed that it will make them think more about encouraging people to go back to work.
- 64 % strongly agreed, 31% slightly agreed.
Notes to editors
1. The DWP research report ‘Evaluation of the GP Education Pilot: Health and Work in General Practice’ is published on 5 March 2008, and is available on the DWP website at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs2008.asp
2. This report presents findings of the evaluation of the pilot. The evaluation included one pre- and two post- workshop questionnaires for participating GPs, and a qualitative element. The study was undertaken by Andrew Irving Associates, and the report authors are Dorothy Chang and Andrew Irving.
3. The study provides an insight into the impact GPs felt the workshop had on their behaviour, but for practical reasons was not designed to provide a robust measure of attitudinal or behavioural change.
4. The GP Education Pilot was delivered by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to a total of 154 GPs in 6 pilot areas during 2007. The initiative involved pre- and post course reading and a half-day workshop, with one workshop taking place in each area.
5. The government’s Health, Work & Wellbeing strategy can be found at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/health_and_wellbeing.pdf and the health, work and wellbeing website is located at www.workingforhealth.gov.uk
6. Evidence on the links between health and work (Is work good for your health and wellbeing?, Waddell & Burton, 2006) can be found at www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/documents/is-work-good-for-you.pdf and the findings are outlined in a Press Release of September, 2006 - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/cphs040-060906.pdf
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