General practice could ask for funding from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure patients go back to work quickly, a top NHS England official has suggested.
Professor Keith Willett, national director for acute episodes of care, said the NHS could ask the DWP for money to enable GPs to get people back to work quicker.
Addressing the annual conference of the out-of-hours provider body Urgent Health UK, Professor Willetts said getting a patient in to see a GP quickly and issued with a return to work certificate could save the government two weeks of benefits payments.
‘So, in the same way as health has given social care the Better Care Fund, and said "come and help us out", we could, arguably, go to work and pensions and say, "excuse me, we can get them to go back to work seven days quicker. Can we have some of your money to be able to do that?".'
Comments
Hopefully doctors won't want anything to do with this. The BMA wants the WCA scrapped, so let's hope they stand their ground.
I wholeheartedly agree
It raises an interesting question though: the total lack of accountability in the sickness and disability benefits system is well known; no-one is held accountable even when someone dies. That's not the case in the NHS though. So what would happen if a doctor forced someone back to work too early in order to get extra funding and adverse consequences were the result?
Hopefully doctors won't want anything to do with this. The BMA wants the WCA scrapped, so let's hope they stand their ground.
Is there anything that this lot won't try and make money out of??
Isnt the GP supposed to focus on the problems of the patient rather than thinking, how quickly can I get this person back to work, how much can I save the government, and how much can I earn my Practice by doing so.
Have I misunderstood something here or am I simply dreaming that I am reading and writing this ?!?!