NHS bosses in north Cumbria welcomed new central government money to help get patients back into work.
Whitehall funding has been confirmed for the ‘Northeast and North Cumbria Health and Growth Accelerator Scheme’ which aims to place work and health coaches in GP practices and other services to offer advice, coaching and support to people when health issues become a barrier to working.
The service will build on two existing programmed led by the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and GP practices alongside the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the region's combined and local authorities.
These are the ICB's ‘Waiting Well’ programme which aims to support patients waiting for surgery with health and lifestyle advice and the DWP's ‘Patient Advisory Service’ which the ICB said has helped almost 2,000 people back to work through one-to-one support in County Durham and the Tees Valley.
The funding will also help the region's employers offer more health and wellbeing support to their staff, the ICB said.
Samantha Allen, the ICB's chief executive, said: "This additional funding for our region is much needed, and will help us better support people who can benefit from it.
"We have shown how much of a difference this support can make in people's lives.
"We have excellent services in our region, but people's health is affected by wider factors like poverty, housing and jobs.
“By linking with other services, the NHS can help address some of these issues, support people into work and improve their health."
12 of the region's 14 council areas have a higher-than-average number of people unable to work due to sickness and disability.
The new scheme will aim to offer practical advice and help with common issues like anxiety, as well as helping employers make workplace adjustments where they can.
NHS staff will use data to identify patients who could benefit from this support while linking closely with GP practices in the region's most deprived communities.
Dr Martin Weatherhead, a GP in Sunderland and health inequalities clinical lead for the ICB, said: "The results so far have been impressive, with almost one-third of the patients who see an advisor successfully getting back to working life.
“Having a job, feeling productive and getting a steady income makes a big difference to everyone's health."
The new scheme is one of a series of initiatives in which the ICB links with other services to support deprived communities and address wider causes of ill health such as money problems, anxiety, smoking or difficulties in maintaining a healthy weight.
Other projects include work to attract more doctors, nurses and health professionals to work in deprived communities, with extra training and support, as well as offering extra support to patients with things like psychological support, opioid reduction and childhood immunisations, the ICB added.
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