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4. HEALTH IMPROVEMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE

A successful economy is key to our future prosperity and a pre-requisite for building first class public services, social justice and a Scotland of opportunity. We need a healthy and active population if we are to achieve all of this.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Workforce Plus

Workforce Plus: An Employability Framework for Scotland, ¹¹ was launched in June 2006. It sets out actions at national and local level which will ensure that a range of government agencies put together a set of integrated employability services. This will provide people, including those with mental health problems, with the right skills, knowledge and support to take up employment opportunities - so that everyone who wants to work can find a job and progress in work. Workforce Plus also provides the collective leadership across the Executive to ensure that our policies support the aim to help more people into employment.

• Workforce Plus will underpin and support the Closing the Opportunity Gap target to reduce the numbers of workless people dependent on Department for Work and Pensions benefits in Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, Dundee, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire - 7 areas where the greatest proportion of people are out of work. We aim to help 66,000 people into work - 26% in those areas - by 2010.
• We have set up the National Workforce Plus Partnership, jointly chaired by the Executive and Jobcentre Plus which will lead action at a national level and respond to the work of the local partnerships.
• While the UK Government leads on employment, Workforce Plus will harness the support of devolved and specialist services such as health and social care, which can directly influence individuals' confidence, motivation and ability to work. It will drive forward co-ordinated and coherent employability services to ensure that individuals are supported towards and into employment. The Executive will lead and co-ordinate this action but the successful delivery of Workforce Plus will be dependent on the co-operation and willingness of all agencies to work together.
• Workforce Plus aims to benefit employers by providing a greater pool of potential employees. We will work closely with employers and ensure that the employability services meet employers' needs.
• The Department for Work and Pensions' Pathways to Work initiative includes a Condition Management Programme to help new entrants to Incapacity Benefit to live with their condition and work towards a return to work. The Programme is delivered with the support of local NHS services and has been designed in response to the 3 main conditions reported by those claiming Incapacity Benefit: mental health problems or illness; cardiovascular problems; and musculo-skeletal conditions. The aim of the Programme is to go beyond simple medical interventions and tackle more deep-seated issues such as anxiety and pain management; and enable customers to better manage their health condition and to improve their quality of life and employability.
• The Pathways to Work programme is currently available to Incapacity Benefit customers in Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll & Bute, Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire. It will roll-out to Grampian, Highlands & Islands, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway by the end of 2006, and to the remaining parts of Scotland by October 2007.
• There are 2 pilots in Scotland funded by the Department of Work and Pensions to test the effectiveness of an Employment Adviser service in GP surgeries. The pilots aim at helping GPs to provide the necessary support to their patients to remain in or return to work. The first pilot started in January 2006 in Paisley, the second in Oban at the end of March 2006.
• People with a mental health problem or a mental illness are the majority of those on long-term Incapacity Benefit, and people with a mental illness experience the lowest levels of employment for any disability group. The National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing supports initiatives that highlight the importance of work for people's mental health, for retaining people in work during periods of mental ill health and enabling and supporting people to re-enter the workforce. Workplace mental health promotion, prevention and employment support is being funded through the Centre for Healthy Working Lives and a job retention pilot with NHS Fife is underway. Helpful resources are also being produced, including a practical document called 'With Work In Mind' - providing insights, evidence and examples of supporting people back into work, retaining staff in employment and improving workplace mental health.

Healthy Working Lives

Key to achieving health aspects of our goals is our Healthy Working Lives strategy which supports the implementation of Workforce Plus and provides input from NHSScotland to:

• keep people in work safe and healthy and using the workplace to promote healthy lifestyles;
• develop services to help people in work who become ill or injured to remain in work while they recover or stabilise their condition; and
• help those who currently are excluded from work through illness or injury to return to work or improve their employability.

Getting people back to work is particularly important in tackling health inequalities. There is evidence that those unable to work through incapacity have worse health outcomes. Those areas with highest deprivation also have higher levels of Incapacity Benefit claimants. People returning to work from Incapacity Benefit report better physical and mental health, reduced alcohol and tobacco use, and reduced consumption of prescription medicines.

CASE STUDIES

DELIVERING A HEALTHIER SCOTLAND

The Compass Project - Engaging Employers and Promoting Social Inclusion

The Compass Project is a service from the Wise Group and the NHS which aims to support patients of GPs in the South West of Glasgow move back into work and is unique in that patients are usually referred by their GPs. Funded by a range of organisations, it acknowledges the trust patients have in their GP - often more than in other organisations. It has been operating since early 2004 in partnership primarily with NHS Primary Care teams and support services providing
health-related interventions for patients.

An evaluation of The Compass Project in its pilot year was extremely positive, showing impressive results in assisting clients into work, voluntary work and further education. In addition clients reported improved health, reported visiting their GPs less often and improvements in lifestyle choices like health eating. Since then, over 130 patients have secured paid employment opportunities, with a further 5 securing voluntary work or further education placements, 94% have sustained employment for 13 weeks, with over 85% sustaining for over 26 weeks. Those who have been unable to sustain, are again working with their Employment Advisor to seek alternative employment.

The Compass Project was able to engage an employer who faced recruitment difficulties by highlighting their client as an unemployed candidate returning to work, rather than as an individual who had health problems but was fully capable of doing the job. The employer needed a candidate who possessed the right qualities and skills but who was willing to work on an 'as required' basis. The employer was delighted with the client and even offered her a part-time post in the administration office until she was able to complete her specialised training. Although she possessed the right skills, the client would not have applied to the employer due to her low self-confidence, were it not for the help she received by the Occupational Therapist. A small grant to help the client with her travel expenses until her first wage payment provided aftercare for both employer and client. Compass continues to develop the relationship with the employer so that vacancies can be identified in future for other Compass clients. The employer has been continually engaged due to the support services that are available - something which they are not always aware of. This can mean employers get discouraged from recruiting clients with health issues.

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