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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/02/activists-anger-scheme-embed-job-coaches-in-gp-surgeries
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| Activists angry at scheme to embed job coaches in GP surgeries | Activists angry at scheme to embed job coaches in GP surgeries |
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| Disabled people and benefit claimants are to protest in London against a scheme to embed job coaches with family doctors, which they say will contaminate healthcare with the punitive culture of the government’s work programme. | Disabled people and benefit claimants are to protest in London against a scheme to embed job coaches with family doctors, which they say will contaminate healthcare with the punitive culture of the government’s work programme. |
| Critics warn that the scheme jeopardises doctor-patient confidentiality, risks alienating patients from their doctors and perverts the primary role and ethical mission of the healthcare system, which is to help people to recover from illnesses. | Critics warn that the scheme jeopardises doctor-patient confidentiality, risks alienating patients from their doctors and perverts the primary role and ethical mission of the healthcare system, which is to help people to recover from illnesses. |
| Related: Equalities watchdog criticises planned cuts to work support allowance | Related: Equalities watchdog criticises planned cuts to work support allowance |
| Paula Peters, an activist with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), said: “There is a blurring of the lines between healthcare and the [Department for Work and Pensions] and it’s wrong. We are already having to watch everything we say to doctors, we treat every appointment as a work capability assessment in case it’s used against us. | Paula Peters, an activist with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), said: “There is a blurring of the lines between healthcare and the [Department for Work and Pensions] and it’s wrong. We are already having to watch everything we say to doctors, we treat every appointment as a work capability assessment in case it’s used against us. |
| “We need that money to live. We became unwell through no fault of our own. We need the healthcare support.” | “We need that money to live. We became unwell through no fault of our own. We need the healthcare support.” |
| Activists will march on an Islington GP surgery on Friday, one of six that is part of the pilot scheme that officials see as “an opportunity to embed employment into the ‘wiring’ of the healthcare system” by making it part of the clinical outcomes doctors seek for patients. | Activists will march on an Islington GP surgery on Friday, one of six that is part of the pilot scheme that officials see as “an opportunity to embed employment into the ‘wiring’ of the healthcare system” by making it part of the clinical outcomes doctors seek for patients. |
| Funded in part by the local clinical commissioning group (CCG), but with the bulk of the money coming from the DWP, Islington’s Working Better scheme is as yet the only one of its kind in the country. | Funded in part by the local clinical commissioning group (CCG), but with the bulk of the money coming from the DWP, Islington’s Working Better scheme is as yet the only one of its kind in the country. |
| It offers patients at the six participating practices who are unemployed and have a long-term health condition access to one-to-one employment support with Remploy job coaches. | It offers patients at the six participating practices who are unemployed and have a long-term health condition access to one-to-one employment support with Remploy job coaches. |
| According to council documents, the coaches are based in surgeries for up to one day a week “to work with patients to establish their previous work experience, knowledge and skills, to build confidence, set goals and identify job or educational opportunities”. | According to council documents, the coaches are based in surgeries for up to one day a week “to work with patients to establish their previous work experience, knowledge and skills, to build confidence, set goals and identify job or educational opportunities”. |
| One aim is for these advisers to have the power to write directly into patients’ medical records, a suggestion that has alarmed campaigners. Doctors will also be encouraged to raise the subject of employment with their patients, recommend the benefits of being in work and even refer them to employment services. | One aim is for these advisers to have the power to write directly into patients’ medical records, a suggestion that has alarmed campaigners. Doctors will also be encouraged to raise the subject of employment with their patients, recommend the benefits of being in work and even refer them to employment services. |
| The rationale for the scheme is that there is a large body of evidence linking employment with good health. While it is currently voluntary, critics fear that it is part of a strategy by work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith to bring jobcentres, and their culture of welfare sanctions, into the heart of the NHS. | The rationale for the scheme is that there is a large body of evidence linking employment with good health. While it is currently voluntary, critics fear that it is part of a strategy by work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith to bring jobcentres, and their culture of welfare sanctions, into the heart of the NHS. |
| Islington’s pilot is focused on patients who suffer from mental health problems, since mental ill-health is the major reason for people claiming employment and support allowance. | Islington’s pilot is focused on patients who suffer from mental health problems, since mental ill-health is the major reason for people claiming employment and support allowance. |
| Related: Lords rebuff Tory plan to cut ESA for second time | Related: Lords rebuff Tory plan to cut ESA for second time |
| However, critics have accused the scheme of picking on the most vulnerable patients. Peters said: “You put a mental health patient who is distressed, who is not well, and pile the pressure on them, they are going to relapse. They might harm themselves. | However, critics have accused the scheme of picking on the most vulnerable patients. Peters said: “You put a mental health patient who is distressed, who is not well, and pile the pressure on them, they are going to relapse. They might harm themselves. |
| “We have lost so many disabled people already to these schemes, how many more are we going to lose before doctors say ‘I didn’t become a doctor to get involved in schemes like this’?” | “We have lost so many disabled people already to these schemes, how many more are we going to lose before doctors say ‘I didn’t become a doctor to get involved in schemes like this’?” |
| Robert Stearn, a PhD candidate at Birkbeck who is supporting the campaign, added: “It’s part of a move to put jobcentres and jobcentre staff into different areas of civil society. The jobcentre already goes into schools, it already goes into libraries. | Robert Stearn, a PhD candidate at Birkbeck who is supporting the campaign, added: “It’s part of a move to put jobcentres and jobcentre staff into different areas of civil society. The jobcentre already goes into schools, it already goes into libraries. |
| “The justification for this is they want the jobcentre to reach as many people as possible, but the flipside to this is it makes all these places inaccessible, it makes them areas of pressure and coercion.” | “The justification for this is they want the jobcentre to reach as many people as possible, but the flipside to this is it makes all these places inaccessible, it makes them areas of pressure and coercion.” |
| The leader of Islington council, Richard Watts, insisted that the authority was on the side of vulnerable residents, despite the misgivings about the scheme. He said he understood why people had anxieties about employment support programmes. | The leader of Islington council, Richard Watts, insisted that the authority was on the side of vulnerable residents, despite the misgivings about the scheme. He said he understood why people had anxieties about employment support programmes. |
| “However, concerns about our Working Better scheme are misplaced. Let’s be clear: the scheme is entirely voluntary and not linked, in any way, to any welfare-to-work conditionality or sanctions regime,” he said.“We know from independent research across our community that the vast majority of our disabled residents do want to work and want a better chance to show what they can do. The scheme is not about work being a ‘cure’ or ‘fix’ for people’s impairments and health conditions. It’s about doing more to break down barriers and help make employment support services more accessible and inclusive to the disabled people who want to benefit from them. | “However, concerns about our Working Better scheme are misplaced. Let’s be clear: the scheme is entirely voluntary and not linked, in any way, to any welfare-to-work conditionality or sanctions regime,” he said.“We know from independent research across our community that the vast majority of our disabled residents do want to work and want a better chance to show what they can do. The scheme is not about work being a ‘cure’ or ‘fix’ for people’s impairments and health conditions. It’s about doing more to break down barriers and help make employment support services more accessible and inclusive to the disabled people who want to benefit from them. |
| “No-one is or will be made to see an employment support coach if they do not want to and no client’s information is shared with jobcentre plus. No disabled person who is unable to work should be made to.“The council opposes ‘workfare’. We ask those proposing to protest to suspend their action and come and meet us so we can discuss our Working Better scheme in detail.” | “No-one is or will be made to see an employment support coach if they do not want to and no client’s information is shared with jobcentre plus. No disabled person who is unable to work should be made to.“The council opposes ‘workfare’. We ask those proposing to protest to suspend their action and come and meet us so we can discuss our Working Better scheme in detail.” |
| A DWP spokesman said: “This small local project in Islington is testing whether it works to offer services to people with long-term health conditions or disabilities at doctors surgeries – potentially making it easier for people to look for work if they are able. “Exploring new ways to deliver services is an important part of our efforts to provide the best possible support to claimants.” |