Statutory guidance

Chapter 3: Quality and Assurance

Updated 2 November 2023

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3.01. DWP expects service and provision under AtW MHSS to be of the highest quality and considers this to be a shared responsibility.

3.02. You are responsible for ensuring that customers and their employers have access to suitable and high quality support in a way that provides a good service and an excellent customer experience. For AtW to offer the most effective support possible to customers, a number of key features are integral to delivery. We expect you to:

  • focus strongly on speed and accuracy; and
  • demonstrate a sound understanding of the breadth of mental health issues which may be experienced by Access to Work customers and appropriate support options to address the customer’s workplace barriers.

3.03. The MHSS Support Plan, MHSS Monthly Updates, MHSS 6 Month Report and the MHSS Exit Reports are required to enable AtW Case Managers to determine that customers are receiving or have received the support they require to help them sustain employment.

3.04. It is important that the reports are of good quality and the AtW Operational team will define whether reports are ‘to the specified standard’, based on the criteria in the following paragraph. (Please note: this is not an exhaustive list).

3.05. Support Plans, Monthly Updates, 6 Month Reports or Exit Reports may be deemed as not meeting the specified standard and therefore rejected and returned for re-work if one or more of the following reasons applies:

  • incorrect information is reported;
  • there are spelling and grammatical errors;
  • there is no full justification for the support recommended;
  • there is no explanation of how recommendations will overcome difficulties;
  • it contains personal/confidential information reported to your staff that is identified that the customer requested be confidential and did not want disclosing on the report;
  • your staff should ensure that they advise the customer that they will report anything they tell them unless otherwise stated; and
  • if your staff want to make the AtW Case Manager aware of any issues, a separate document can be added for the AtW Case Manager.

3.06. If the report has been rejected, you will be notified by e-mail. Whenever possible, this will be within 5 working days of the receipt of the report. The standard notification stencil which will be used to inform you can be found at Annex G.

3.07. If the AtW Operational team decides that a report is not to the specified standard, you will be notified of the reason and you will be required to review and resubmit the report using secure encrypted email within 1 working day of its return.

3.08. If you are concerned about reports that have been returned for rework, you should refer to your DWP SPOC, the AtW Contract Liaison Point, within the AtW Operational Team. In the absence of the SPOC you can contact the Contract Support Officer to determine the appropriate action to take.

3.09. The AtW Operational team will monitor the quality of reports and the number returned to each provider as unacceptable on a monthly basis.

3.10. This information will be discussed formally as part of regular performance reviews led by your Performance Manager. When appropriate, remedial measures, including a Performance Improvement Plan, will be agreed to address areas requiring improvement.

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