Startling new research from the Department for Work and Pensions has uncovered a dramatic exodus of health professionals from disability benefit assessment roles, with over half leaving their positions within a single year. The findings reveal a system in crisis, where qualified healthcare workers report feeling "despised" and stripped of their professional skills.
Mass Departure of Health Professionals
The DWP's recently released report shows that 52 percent of health assessors departed in 2021 alone, with an alarming 40 percent of new recruits abandoning their roles during the initial three-month training period. This research, conducted in Spring 2022 using data from the previous year, examined assessors for both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the health-related component of Universal Credit.
These assessment processes have faced sustained criticism from disability rights campaigners for being inconsistent and excessively challenging. According to polling by disability charity Sense, 51 percent of disabled individuals with complex needs reported feeling humiliated during their PIP assessment, while 45 percent stated the process actually worsened their symptoms.
From Respected Professionals to "Cogs in the Machine"
The report uncovers a troubling transition for healthcare professionals who move into assessment roles. Many only apply when they have "no other option but to leave the NHS," according to the research, then find themselves shifting from respected positions to ones where they feel "despised."
One assessor articulated this professional disillusionment clearly: "We all got into healthcare for altruistic reasons and that maybe isn't the case in this job... you're a cog in the machine doing bureaucratic work."
A DWP contract manager elaborated on this fundamental mismatch, explaining: "The idea that they would want to be on a treadmill of collecting details but not intervening is alien to a significant proportion of the health sector. A lot of people that apply for roles don't understand this point. They arrive, have rigorous training, and the penny drops that this is what the role is."
Assessment Processes Under Scrutiny
During PIP assessments, healthcare professionals award points based on how limited an applicant's ability is to perform daily living activities, determining the final benefit award level. Meanwhile, the Universal Credit health assessment—known as the work capability assessment—focuses on determining applicants' ability to undertake work or work-related activities like interviews and training.
The bureaucratic nature of these roles appears fundamentally at odds with healthcare professionals' training and motivations. One former PIP assessor, who worked as a nurse for two years in the role, described being "sucked into" the position with promises that it would become manageable after six months of adjustment to this "totally new way" of working.
"Most assessors leave at around six months because they realise they've been had," she revealed, adding that she found herself "working myself to death" with hours stretching from 5am to 10pm as case backlogs became unmanageable.
System Failing Both Assessors and Claimants
Lucy Bannister, head of policy and influencing at Turn2us, highlighted how the system appears to be failing everyone involved: "People recovering from illness or navigating the additional cost of disability should rightly expect to be treated with dignity and respect. But this report shows that's not happening. The staff carrying out assessments for disability benefits describe the system in the same terms as disabled people: punitive, exhausting and inflexible, focused on tick-boxing rather than care. It's not working properly for anyone."
Government Response and Ongoing Reforms
A DWP spokesperson responded to the findings: "We commissioned this research to better understand the challenges facing the health assessment workforce and have been acting on its findings since it was conducted. We've worked closely with our assessment providers to improve recruitment, training and working conditions, and the full-time equivalent health assessor workforce has grown since this research was carried out."
The spokesperson added: "We're committed to ensuring assessments are carried out by skilled professionals who are properly supported in their roles, and we continue to work on improvements as part of our wider transformation of health assessment services."
Following the withdrawal of proposed PIP changes last year, the government has initiated a review led by Sir Stephen Timms to make the benefit "fair and fit for the future." This work is expected to focus significantly on the assessment process, with a report anticipated in autumn this year.
Additionally, the government plans to abolish the work capability assessment entirely, replacing it with a single process based on the PIP framework. However, work and pensions minister Pat McFadden has confirmed this transition will not occur until after the conclusion of the Timms review, leaving both assessors and claimants navigating a system that appears to satisfy neither those administering it nor those depending on it.
