24 August 2009 – People with mental health conditions get extra support to stay in work
Thousands of people with mental health problems will get extra support managing their condition to remain in the workplace, Jim Knight, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform announced today.
Early indications of the government led pilots, run in conjunction with the mental health charity Mind, have shown to be 90 per cent successful in helping people with fluctuating mental health conditions retain their jobs.
Based on this trial, the Government is now looking to extend the support, with an expectation of rolling out nationally with a range of providers.
Jim Knight, Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, said:
"I know disabled people dearly want to stay in work and their employers want to do everything they can to keep good staff. Our plans to offer the right help early on can end the downward spiral of people falling out of work into sick leave, and onto benefits. We are all agreed that helping people stay in work is good news for them, their bosses and for the taxpayer."
Further radical measures introduced by the Government include:
- Our first ever National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment, for publication in the autumn. The strategy will include expectations of employers, healthcare professionals, organisations and individuals in improving well-being in the workplace.
- Ministers have also asked mental health expert Dr Rachel Perkins and Paul Farmer Chief Executive of Mind how we can better help people with mental health problems back to work.
- A new network of dedicated mental health experts across Jobcentre Plus will work together with colleagues in the health system to coordinate support for people who have mental health conditions.
- A consultation on Right to Control, which will give disabled people, including those with mental health problems, greater choice and control over how public money is spent to meet their individual needs and ambitions.
- Doubling the Access to Work fund, from £69m to £138m over the next five years - providing practical advice and financial support to disabled people and their employers to help them overcome work-related obstacles resulting from disability.
Fay (29) from London, who took part in a pilot, said:
"The support was great and l wish it had been there when l was previously off sick from work. I found it particularly helpful in the way it kept me in contact with my employer while I was off – I never felt completely isolated from work.
“I found myself doing things that I normally would have found terrifying. I wouldn’t have been able to cope on my own and definitely wouldn’t have gone back to work without the support given. I would recommend this service to others with a similar condition."
Sophie Corlett, Mind's Director of External Relations, said:
"If employers put their mind to it and provide the right support they can keep their staff mentally well and fit for the workplace. People with mental health problems want to work but are often failed by employers who lack the understanding or the skills to provide the necessary support. We welcome the Government's increased investment in mental health, particularly during these difficult economic times, when now more than ever people need the support and understanding of their employers."
Notes to Editor:
- To find out more information on Access to Work visit http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
- The Government’s first ever National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment will be published in the autumn. The strategy will include expectations of employers, healthcare professionals, organisations and individuals to improve well-being in the workplace.
- The Department for Work and Pensions has asked Dr Rachel Perkins, Director of Quality Assurance and User Experience of SW London and St George’s Mental Health Trust, supported by Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, and Dr Paul Litchfield, Chief Medical Officer of BT Group plc, to make recommendations on how it can better help people with mental health conditions back to work. This will draw on the pioneering and successful work she has undertaken for those with the most severe conditions.
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