When times are difficult people need more help not less. We know from previous recessions that simply pushing people onto inactive benefits can lead to a life time of dependency.
We will do everything we can to support people during these difficult times. We are working across Government to give people with mental health conditions the help they need to stay in or get back to work. (James Purnell on his latest initiative)
The latest wheeze from Purnell et al is launching a package of measures to help people with anxiety and depression back into work. A network of employment caseworkers will be available across the country, linked into the DoH’s ‘talking therapy’ services.
The caseworkers will create close links with local employers, occupational health services and Jobcentre Plus and provide tailored advice on getting back to work, taking into account someone’s particular mental health condition.
What is this tailored advice? And what, precisely, are these talking therapies? At the moment, if you’re lucky, you languish on some counselling waiting list for months on end, with your GP getting you some meds in the meantime. What kind of therapies? CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)? How long will you get for a session? Will the therapist be qualified? Oh, and if NL is really concerned about getting people with mental distress back in the labour market then what about tightening up the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)? What about penalising employers who refuse to consider employing someone with mental distress…??
Talking therapy pilots Newham and Doncaster saw 5,000 extra people in 2007/8, with average waiting of only two weeks after a clinical decision to treat, down from an NHS average of around 14 months. More than half those treated by the Newham and Doncaster services achieved measurable recovery, in line with NICE evidence from clinical trials, and the number going to work rose by 10 per cent.
If you give good quality help and therapy, amongst other support, to people then you probably will get results (and along with a shorter waiting list) but in the current political climate it’s not about real support and help on the terms of the individual it is about forcing people into the labour with the threat of sanctions. Hardly conducive to good mental health! With the economic crisis mental distress will inevitably increase coupled with the added threats of sanctions and increased conditionality. People already in a powerless position.
There is not yet any indication that the economic downturn is having a negative impact on disadvantaged people in the labour market; in fact, the numbers of people on Incapacity Benefit are still falling. But the Government is determined to act to prevent people falling into long-term worklessness.
And the above quote really says it all, it is not about what is best suited to the individual based on clinical judgement instead it is driven by government policy and ideology.
