NHS to prescribe home exercise videos to get sick employees back to work

Workers with bad backs will be given home exercise videos by the NHS under a campaign to curb the rising tide of joblessness.

Ministers plan to roll out “digital therapeutics” for common musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions keeping millions of Britons out of employment.

The proposals have been drawn up as part of efforts to reverse the growing number of people being signed off with long-term sickness.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, told The Telegraph that bearing down on such illnesses is vital to growing the economy and easing pressure on the NHS.

A tenth of the entire working-age population, about 4.5 million people, report suffering from MSK conditions such as pain in the back, neck, arms and legs.

The number of those signed off long-term sick has risen by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at 1.35 million, up by 460,000 in three years.

Ministers have identified the sharp rise in such illnesses as a major drag on the economy and want to prevent even more people falling out of the workforce.

Rejoining the workforce

Mr Barclay told The Telegraph: “More than one in five people who are economically inactive have a musculoskeletal condition. With the right care and support, many of them could rejoin the workforce. 

“That would benefit both them and the economy, as well as helping to ease pressure on the NHS. Many of those currently out of work due to a health condition would love to find rewarding and fulfilling employment.

His department has published plans to “support people with MSK conditions to better manage symptoms and remain in the workforce”.

The proposals stated: “This includes providing free access to digital therapeutics for MSK problems via the NHS App and other national digital channels.

“These services will not require a GP for referral so that they are readily available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to accommodate demand.”

In London, the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has started setting patients who attend its fracture clinics home exercise programmes to aid their recovery.

They were directed to an app and told which videos to complete and how frequently, with medics able to track whether they were completing the exercises.

‘Community hubs’ for patients

Ministers also plan to turn facilities such as leisure centres into “MSK community hubs” where people can attend classes and get treatment without seeing a doctor.

In addition, job coaches will be based in places such as physio practices and GP surgeries “to help individuals with conditions return to or remain in work”.

The plans came after official figures revealed that a key government job scheme was getting just one in five people into employment after a year.

Only 797 out of 3,817 people who enrolled in the Government’s Work and Health programme last May had found sustainable work after 12 months.

The programme offers specialist support for people who most struggle to find employment, with the majority of those enrolled being disabled.

However, “job outcomes” – where people either earn above a certain threshold for six months or are in self-employment over the same period – were worst for the long-term unemployed, with just 8pc finding work after a year.

Jeremy Hunt’s big challenge

The figures highlight how Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, faces a huge challenge in getting people who are on benefits back into work to help grow the economy.

Official figures suggest that more than 3.5 million people are claiming benefits with no requirement to look for a job, including around 2.5 million who have been deemed too sick to work.

The Government is expected this week to reveal changes to work capability assessments that determine whether someone is fit enough to work in order to make it harder to claim benefits.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “With unemployment climbing alongside record-high numbers of people out of work because of sickness, the Tories have given up on serious reforms to help people into quality work.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We have taken decisive action to help people move into employment and the falling levels of inactivity, down by more than 300,000 since the pandemic peak, show our plan is working.

“As of February 2022, the Work and Health Programme had supported 210,000 people into work, of whom 160,000 were disabled.”