Are DWP assessments damaging the NHS? | Ekklesia

Last Updated: October 14, 2015By

Recruitment and retention problems in the NHS mean that the pressure on existing staff increases, and morale plummets. With work having a negative effect on their families, it is hardly surprising that a Royal College of Nursing survey found that 66 per cent of NHS staff had considered leaving, whilst 80 per cent of senior doctors are thinking about retiring early.

The solution to these problems lies in the hands of the Department of Health, or ultimately, the Treasury. But whilst they seem to be in denial of the seriousness of the problems NHS staff face, the work of another government department may be exacerbating the recruitment crisis.

The Department for Work and Pensions is paying a multinational company called Maximus to conduct Work Capability Assessments (WCA). In order to do this, Maximus, calling itself the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments, is recruiting doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to carry out assessments. The pay and conditions they can offer, thanks to a lucrative contract from the DWP, are attractive.

For hard-pressed NHS workers doing long shifts, irregular hours and much unpaid overtime in a high stress working environment, the idea of a nine to five office-based job, working 37.5 hours per week with a good salary must seem like a heaven-sent opportunity to escape. Maximus is offering doctors £84,000, and nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists up to £45,000.

It is understandable that medical professionals, feeling stressed and undervalued in the NHS, would be tempted to take what appears to be a much easier option, for the sake of their families.

Yet Maximus/DWP’s gain will be the NHS’s loss.

Source: Are DWP assessments damaging the NHS? | Ekklesia

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9 Comments

  1. AndyH October 14, 2015 at 12:30 pm - Reply

    Plus GPs are having to devote alot of time working on appeals and treating suicidal people who have been found fit for work (simply because they are they still alive).

  2. che October 14, 2015 at 12:35 pm - Reply

    But Maximus are recruiting these staff and then sacking them as they are passing too many claimants as unfit to work.

  3. thomas higgins October 14, 2015 at 12:53 pm - Reply

    It is blatantly obvious that if you want to undermine a public service industry before selling it off cheap to your friends, firstly you deprive it of resources, of which staff are a massively important one, then you watch it rapidly crumble before telling the public it has become a total basket case and needs private ownership to fix it, they have done it with all the other industries which were publicly owned and they are now doing it to the NHS.

    • Mike Sivier October 14, 2015 at 4:13 pm - Reply

      Correct. Didn’t someone like Noam Chomsky say something about that?
      Yes he did:
      Chomsky on privatisation.
      It’s heartening to be able to say that many, many Vox Political readers have cottoned on to what’s happening.

  4. Dave October 14, 2015 at 1:03 pm - Reply

    And when all the assessments have been carried out and the government makes it impossible for new claimants where will these “professionals” go?

  5. wildswimmerpete October 14, 2015 at 2:40 pm - Reply

    Looks like another of *Unt’s crude attempts to sell off more of the NHS to Maximus.

  6. David robinson October 14, 2015 at 2:42 pm - Reply

    With out a doubt this IS the run up to the full Privatisation of the N.H.S.

  7. foggy October 15, 2015 at 2:44 am - Reply

    It’s all going to their nasty little plan;
    Pay NHS staff shoddy wages so as they leave for the private sector healthcare (Maximus/ATOS/Capita)
    Private healthcare (Maximus/ATOS/Capita) convince newly recruited staff how to ‘not see the affects of disability’ re assessment reports.

    Maximus now has another section in their sights to corrupt……………….they now offer ESA claimants an ESA50 form filling service !! (A bit like digging your own grave ?! ) https://www.chdauk.co.uk/updates/2015/10/chda-launches-esa50-support-team

  8. mrmarcpc October 15, 2015 at 3:18 pm - Reply

    Anything they can think of to damage the NHS and eventually destroy it, then so be it, damage and destroy everything is what their policy is.

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