Prof Malcolm Harrington’s final, year three, independent review of the WCA (Work Capability Assessment) was published on 20th November.   He claims to have found his experience with the DWP much more encouraging, apparently with universal support for his efforts to make the WCA a more humane and caring assessment.

He acknowledges, whilst there have been improvements, progress has been patchy. There has been some limited progress in training professionals involved in the assessments, and work on improving descriptors particularly for mental, intellectual and cognitive conditions, and for fluctuating conditions, is ongoing. He is confident that there are significant and lasting improvements to WCA on their way.

An overview of the key findings and themes from this Review:

The main theme and feature of this Review is the need to complete the tasks that have been started:

  • Continuing to improve communications with claimants
  • Continuing to improve communications within DWP Operations
  • Continuing to improve the face-to-face assessment: DWP should monitor Atos performance more closely.
  • Establishing quality dialogue between DWP and First-tier Tribunals
  • Keeping the Decision Maker central to the assessment process and providing them with all the further documentary evidence they need to get the decision ‘right first time’
  • Continually monitoring changes to the WCA: the Review has seen, first hand, the changes that are beginning to take root. Considerable disquiet remains, and this cannot be ignored.
  • Completing work underway on the descriptors: momentum must be maintained to make changes to the cancer treatment provisions and to complete, evaluate and act on the findings of the evidence-based review.

In light of the positive progress made and the need to do more to embed progress made this Review has deliberately made fewer recommendations than in previous years. Consolidation and monitoring are the vital next stages: at this stage there is no evidence for a further period of radical reform.

An Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment – year three

 

 

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