This November the government is introducing a two year pilot scheme designed to get people who are receiving sickness benefits back to work with regular medical interviews.  Healthcare professionals will help people on sickness benefits to address the barriers to work or face losing their benefits.

The pilot will be run across the Black Country, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Staffordshire and Shropshire.  3,000 people will take part all of whom have been identified as being fit to work in the next 18-24 months.  These sick people will have regular medical interviews as a condition of receiving their benefit hopefully helping them move closer to getting a job.  The interviews will be separate to GP appointments and will attempt individuals to engage with their GP if that relationship appears to be broken.

The results of the pilot will be compared to those of a different scheme where employment-focused support is being offered through the Jobcentre or work programme providers.  The aim is to see which scheme is the most successful in getting people back to work.

The schemes are being introduced in an effort to stem the increasing benefits bill that currently comes in at almost £220 billion pounds.