Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Return to work and rehabilitationSickness absence management

National sickness absence service rebranded as “Fit for Work”

by Nic Paton 20 Nov 2014
by Nic Paton 20 Nov 2014

The Government’s Health and Work Service is to be rebranded as “Fit for Work” when it launches, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said.

The service is expected to be launched in pilot form in late 2014 with a national rollout taking place in 2015.

Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, said: “Being in work is good for people’s wellbeing and can help them to recover. Fit for Work will help employers and their staff to manage sickness absence and aid the return-to-work process.”

Survey shows potential GP referral rate to Fit for Work

At the same time, the Government has carried out a study to estimate the likely rate of referral to the new service by GPs, and the factors affecting such referrals.

The study, Exploring Future GP Referral to Fit for Work, was based on data collected from fit notes issued by GPs between the end of October 2013 and the end of January this year, supplemented by additional information collected from the GPs involved.

The study concluded that GPs were likely to refer 36% of their eligible patients (those absent, or at risk of an absence, from work for four weeks or more) to the new service.

This could mean that the service will be handling around 310,000 to 450,000 referrals a year, the DWP has said. However, the proportion of referrals varied considerably between practices, from 11% to 72%, it cautioned.

“GPs were more likely to say that they would make a referral for patients with a mental health or musculoskeletal health problem and for patients with longer fit notes. The referral rates of GPs with a positive attitude to health and work were higher than those with a less positive attitude,” the study concluded.

“GPs also reported that they would be more likely to refer patients to the new service if it was open to a wide range of patients, eg not just employed people, and if they had a good understanding of what the service offered and evidence that it would be beneficial.

“GPs would be generally less likely to make referrals where they thought the level of service was poor and, for example, the service was not easily accessible or the referral process was too complicated and/or they felt the type of service provided would not help their patient,” it added.

GPs were also less likely to refer patients who had a clear recovery path and were likely to return to work in due course, the report argued.

Similarly, patients with low motivation to return to work and patients already receiving help from an employer-based occupational health service would be less likely to be referred to the new service, the GPs felt.

Fit for Work provider to take over Work Capability Assessment programme

In a separate development, the US firm that owns Health Management, the UK occupational health provider that will be delivering the Fit for Work contract, has also won the contract to take over the running of the Government’s controversial Work Capability Assessment programme.

The DWP announced in October that Maximus would be awarded a three-year contract from March 2015.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

In March this year, the Government said it had reached an agreement with the existing provider, Atos, to allow it to exit its contract early.

Minister for Disabled People, Mark Harper, said: “We are committed to supporting those people who can get back into work and break the cycle of benefit dependency. Where people can’t work, we are clear that we should support them to live independent lives.”

Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consultant editor at Personnel Today. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for Personnel Today and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

previous post
Government estimates of shared parental leave take-up too low
next post
Four ways to support men with cancer in the workplace

1 comment

Ann Robb 19 Feb 2015 - 9:16 pm

Another public money into private pockets racket!!

Comments are closed.

You may also like

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

Four ways employers can reduce the risk of...

14 May 2025

Data highlights positive link between group income support...

14 May 2025

Period pain and absence harm women’s pay and...

13 May 2025

Healthcare workers prioritise mental health support in new...

12 May 2025

Tool developed for employers to calculate cost of...

28 Apr 2025

Why employers must do more to support all...

24 Apr 2025

Half a million more now have access to...

23 Apr 2025

NHS urging people to check for cancer warning...

22 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+