21 September 2007
GPs should do more to help people with depression get back into the workforce, a leading mental health charity said this week.
The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health said that the GP contract should be altered to encourage family doctors to find work-focused help for people who are signed off sick with depression.
Work and wellbeing, a paper published on September 20, argues that GP practices should be able to make local agreements with other providers to support patients back to work. This would include local authorities and the voluntary sector, which would then have a say about commissioning at practice level.
Earlier this month, the Department for Work and Pensions published a leaflet for GPs following a survey that showed that 64% of family doctors were unaware of the health benefits of being in work.
Bob Grove, director of employment at the Sainsbury Centre, said: 'Unemployment is worse for your health than either smoking or obesity. People with mental health problems can face a lifetime of exclusion if they are not helped to get back to work when they become ill.'
PFsep2007
