Work Capability Assessment

The Government has released the latest statistics for Work Capability Assessments (WCA) covering the period June to August 2012.

Outcomes of completed initial assessments for claims started from June to August 2012 show:
* 48 per cent of claimants have an outcome i.e. decisions have been made on their claims;
* 31 per cent of claimants had their claim closed before having a face to face assessment; and
* 21 per cent of claimants were still undergoing assessment.

Claimants with an outcome for their claim can be broken down as follows:

Senior occupational physician Dr Paul Litchfield has been appointed to carry out the fourth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment.

He will continue as Chief Medical Officer and Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing for BT, a post he has held since 2001, while carrying out the review. His fields of expertise include mental illness and the impact it can have on work prospects. As a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council, he has also played a key role in raising the profile of the economic impact of chronic disease.

The Public Accounts Committee has published its report into the contract management of medical services. The Department for Work and Pensions (the Department) relies on medical assessments to help its decision makers reach an appropriate decision on a claimant’s entitlement to a range of benefits.

DWP has published a statistical release that presents information on new claims for Employment and Support Allowance in Great Britain.

It provides information on those claims where the claimant is assigned to either the Support Group or the Work Related Activity Group after their initial functional assessment, including those assigned to one of these groups following an appeal.

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/ESA_reasons_fo...

DWP has published information on new claims for the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in Great Britain. These claims go into the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process. The items show the statistics on:
* volumes for outcomes of completed face to face assessments, and claims closed before the assessment and those still in progress; and
* percentages for outcomes of completed face to face assessments only.

Professor Harrington has completed his third review of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process. He sets out a series of recommendations to the Government based on the evidence he collected as part of the review and which follow on from the recommendations from his first and second reviews. The latest recommendations focus on consolidation and monitoring:

* actively considering the need for further documentary evidence in every claimant’s case, and justifying it if this is not sought
* continuing to strive for an appropriate balance between quality decisions and achieving benchmarks

The WeAreSpartacus group has published its own review of the Work Capability Assessment process from the perspective of the sick and disabled people going through it. The People’s Review of the Work Capability Assessment highlights stories of more than 70 people who have been inappropriately assessed, forced to go to tribunal, felt humiliated or treated inappropriately. It comes prior to the publication of the final review of the Work Capability Assessment by Professor Harrington, who steps down as advisor to the DWP this month.

The percentage of people getting unconditional support through Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) has more than doubled since May 2010.

The latest figures for new claims to ESA shows that 54% of people were assessed as fit for work while 46% are eligible for ESA.

Of those assessed, 26% were put in the Support Group. This is more than double the figure from December 2008 to May 2010, when between 10-11% of people were being placed in the Support Group.

The National Audit Office has criticised government targets for Atos' work capability assessment contract as "too easy".

Professor Malcolm Harrington has said that he is to stand down once he's completed the third annual review of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Professor Harrington has recommended a number of improvements to the operation of the WCA and has said that he is confident that all his recommendations have been implemented.