Fareham & Waterlooville Primary

This morning Conservative MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride said that GPs will no longer determine whether a patient gets a sick note, and that WorkWell will make the assessment. Who is WorkWell? After a quick search online: ➡️ WorkWell is a series of partnerships across the country delivering a service ➡️ They will evaluate 59,000 disabled people, and people with health conditions ➡️ £57 million will be allocated to 15 areas ➡️ One example of this is a contract issued by Greater Manchester Health Authority for a 2 month contract. It was given to the firm PWC for £91k This model will be replicated across the country So instead of your GP determining whether you, their patient, are well enough to work, or not. Various private firms will be paid to make these assessments One of the reasons why the government is doing is this is because its cheaper to hire external assessors than it is to hire more GPs. Another, is that it's cheaper to do this performative role than it is to address the underlying issues of long waiting lists on the NHS. 14 years of austerity have decimated the NHS, covid didn't help, nor did Brexit, and instead of having a plan that will actually work to bring people back to better health, time and money is wasted on these types of initiatives to give the impression that something is being done, when in reality, the cause for the hardships and difficulties facing many people are a result of the 14 years of Conservative party policies and plans.