Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary May 2020

Health & Work Support Pilot

Tables 6 to 15 in the accompanying Excel tables refer to the pilot data.

There were 2,683 referrals to the pilot from its launch until March 2020. Of these, 2,490 were enrolled into case management within the same period. 1,368 (55%) of these enrolments were in Dundee and 1,122 (45%) were in Fife. During this time, enrolments in both areas increased between the first and last quarter of the pilot: by 17% in Dundee, and by 165% in Fife.

Light touch support is offered when people are referred but fall outside of the enrolment criteria. An additional 12 people were offered 'light touch' support^[14] between January and March 2020. This brings the total people offered 'light touch' support during the pilot period to 124.

Most people (54%) heard about the Health and Work Support service from a GP, 11% from other health professionals, 13% from Jobcentre Plus, 11% from their employer, and 10% from other sources including advertising and word of mouth

A description of characteristics of those enrolled in the pilot are below:

• 87% were employed, with 13% being recently unemployed (up to 6 months)
• more females (54%) than males (45%) joined the service. There was a higher proportion of females in all age groups apart from 65+
• 3% were from a minority ethnic background, with the majority of participants (94%) reported as being from a white ethnic group
• less than half of people (42%) reported a long-term health condition. Of these, 84% were either 'limited a lot' or 'limited a little' in their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This means 35% of people (882 out of 2,490) reported having a disability. Many people using this service have a health condition which is not long term. The most common health conditions reported are musculoskeletal conditions (e.g. back pain; 56%), followed by mental health conditions (31%). 9% reported other types of health conditions, and for 3% of people health condition is unknown.