People claiming benefits who are subject to health assessments as part of their claim process are set to have their consultations recorded from next year, it has been announced.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed plans to move to a new platform in 2024 and make enhancements to its video assessment applications, which will bring the ability to record all disability health benefit consultations. It comes just a week after it was proposed in a report by the Work and Pensions Committee that all assessments should be recorded by default, with the option for claimants to opt-out, the Daily Record reports.
DWP gathers health information about those who are claiming benefits via the Health Assessment Advisory Service, which sees claimants undergo an assessment process on how their illness or disability affects their daily life. These assessments can take place face-to-face, by phone, or by video.
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The new report into the health assessments system from the Work and Pensions Committee said that the recorded footage from assessments can be used to review cases more accurately without having to go to appeal, as well as helping assessors to learn from past mistakes. It added that some of the suggestions could drive down the high rate of decisions reversed on appeal, which still stands at 69% for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Other recommendations by MPs on the Committee included allowing claimants to choose between in-person or remote sessions, extending the deadline to return forms, and introducing targets to reduce assessment waiting times, as well as payments to those who have been forced to wait beyond these new targets. The Committee also recommended that DWP put together a list of actions to improve claimant experience when it comes to PIP assessments and Work Capability Assessments, the latter of which are set to be scrapped but are expected to remain in place until at least 2026.
Commenting on the report, Committee Chair Sir Stephen Timms, said: "We surveyed eight and a half thousand people as part of our inquiry and found a profound lack of trust in the system as a consistent theme. Many will welcome the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment. The Government’s process improvements, and recognition that the system causes undue stress and hardship, are steps in the right direction.
"However, waiting years for changes won’t cut it when quicker wins are available: flexibility of choice on assessment by phone or face-to-face; recording assessments by default; extending deadlines to reduce stress; and sending claimants their reports. All this will give much-needed transparency to a process that so few trust yet affects their lives so fundamentally."
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