Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Suppliers brave enough to take on the role of carrying out controversial Work Capability Assessments for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be interested to know that the Minister for Employment, Mark Hoburn MP, has announced plans to bring in additional providers to carry out the assessments in support of Atos Healthcare, whose running of the existing service has attracted criticism in recent months.
A spokesman for the DWP told us there will be a tendering process for additional capacity and contracts will be let in Lots on a regional basis with a view to having services up and running by summer 2014. It’s not 100% clear how the new deals will be structured, but it seems Atos will remain the national provider with additional suppliers brought in regionally and contracted to the DWP to help tackle waiting times. Atos, which has carried out over a million Work Capability Assessements over the last year, said it has seen a huge number of people going through the system and welcomes there being more health professionals on the ground.
According to the DWP, contractual negotiations with existing provider Atos are ongoing. But given that much of the c£110m p.a. contract value is based on payments per person assessed, it seems logical that Atos’ share of the spoils will end up being less than originally planned as some of the available funds are shared amongst the additional suppliers instead.
The Minister also confirmed in a statement that he has directed Atos Healthcare to put in place a quality improvement plan following a DWP audit which identified ‘an unacceptable reduction in the quality of written reports produced following assessments’. The DWP has also engaged PWC to provide advice on strengthening the quality assurance process across all its health and disability assessments.
