Boost for GP practices to help people back to work
A new pilot programme will support people with health conditions back into employment and ease pressure on doctors.
- Fifteen pioneering regions to trial groundbreaking approach to reduce GP pressure and help local people back to work
- Pilot scheme to transform how fit notes are issued
- Part of Plan for Change to grow the economy, get Britain back to work and make an NHS fit for the future
Fifteen regions will benefit from a new pilot programme to support people with health conditions back into employment, while reducing pressure on GPs in the area.
The WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, backed by £1.5 million across 15 regions, will combat the practice of immediately writing people off with a fit note, and instead look to find other ways to help people back into work. WorkWell is expected to support up to 56,000 disabled people and people with health conditions into work by spring 2026 and forms part of this government’s wider efforts to get the NHS back on its feet, reduce economic inactivity, and grow the economy by supporting more people into work and out of poverty as part of its Plan for Change.
This fresh approach addresses a critical challenge facing both patients and the NHS. Currently, of the 11 million fit notes issued electronically in primary care across England last year, 93% simply declared people ‘not fit for work’ - offering no constructive alternative or support pathway.
The new funding will enable WorkWell sites - funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - to connect patients to local support services to provide work and health advice to more patients receiving a fit note.
Patients will receive targeted and timely support to manage their health condition while exploring realistic options for staying in or returning to work, rather than facing a dead-end ‘not fit for work’ declaration.
Interventions via the WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund could include:
- hiring work and health coaches, social prescribers or occupational therapists for GP teams to refer patients to for holistic support, help and advice, from gym memberships to career coaching
- supporting and upskilling occupational therapists or physiotherapists to issue fit notes and improve the quality of work and health advice given to a patient
- upskilling GPs and wider GP teams to improve their ability to support patients with local work and health advice
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
This pilot is a step towards transforming a broken system that’s been failing people for years.
It isn’t just about freeing up GPs to treat patients rather than fill in forms. It’s about fundamentally changing the conversation from ‘you can’t’ to ‘how can we help you?’ When someone walks into their doctor’s surgery worried about their job, they should walk out with a plan, not just a piece of paper that closes doors.
We can’t afford to keep writing people off. Every person we help back into work isn’t just transforming their own life - they’re contributing to our communities, our economy and breaking the cycle that’s been holding Britain back. This is what building an NHS fit for the future through our Plan for Change looks like.
WorkWell sites have already been exploring ways to get patients back into work. For example, June, a patient in the West Midlands, had been on sick leave following a period of poor mental and physical health suffering from anxiety, PTSD and arthritis. She had sessions with a work and health coach via her local WorkWell site, getting support to communicate her needs to her employer and seek reasonable adjustments. This allowed her to return to work with amended hours and responsibilities, avoiding the need for her to be signed off work.
Though a range of healthcare professionals can issue fit notes, 90% of fit notes issued electronically in primary care in England last year were issued by doctors - adding to GP workload pressures.
Instead of GPs spending valuable consultation time on administrative fit note processes, WorkWell sites will use this funding to explore how specialist professionals like pharmacists and occupational therapists can provide comprehensive support that benefits patients and employers, and reduces pressure on primary care services.
The initiative directly supports the commitment in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan to embed employment advice within new neighbourhood health services, shifting care from hospitals to communities. This government has recruited over 1,900 extra GPs in the last year in a bid to fix the front door of the NHS.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:
We know that good work is good for people’s health and good for the economy too, but the current system is holding too many people back - denying many the dignity and self-respect this work brings.
WorkWell is transforming lives by helping people stay in and get back to work, and this significant investment will help even more people unlock good jobs and boost living standards.
With 2.8 million people currently out of work due to health conditions, this pilot will take a crucial step toward breaking the cycle of poor health and poverty that holds back people’s lives and economic growth.
It is a key part of the government’s pledge to cut waiting lists - crack teams of clinicians have already been sent to areas where more people are out of work, and new community diagnostic centres are opening 12 hours a day, 7 days a week across the country. Overall waiting lists have fallen by over 260,000 since last July.
This also comes on the same day as a £100 million funding boost to Connect to Work programmes, which will help thousands of people who are out of work due to health conditions, disabilities or other reasons to find and stay in jobs.
As part of a significant package of support to reform to the broken welfare system, the government is making changes to genuinely support sick or disabled people and those with health conditions into work, amounting to £1 billion per year by the end of the decade, while the Get Britain Working white paper is overhauling Jobcentres and empowering mayors and local leaders to tackle inactivity.
Evidence from the pilot scheme will be used to inform our wider approach to work, health and skills, as this government gets Britain working through the Plan for Change, backed by an NHS fit for the future.
Background information and regions taking part
The WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund will provide a share of £1.5 million to each of the 15 WorkWell pilot sites: £100,000 per site.
The WorkWell pilot programme is expected to support up to 56,000 disabled people and people with health conditions into work by spring 2026.
This innovative model brings together integrated care boards, local authorities and Jobcentre Plus to provide a single, co-ordinated gateway to work and health support services.
The regions in the pilot are:
- Birmingham and Solihull
- Black Country
- Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
- Coventry and Warwickshire
- Frimley
- Herefordshire and Worcestershire
- Greater Manchester
- Lancashire and South Cumbria
- Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
- North Central London
- North West London
- South Yorkshire
- Surrey Heartlands