People with long-term health conditions or disabilities often need support from multiple services – across health, work, and welfare. But the current system can be confusing, repetitive, and hard to navigate.
At the Government Digital Service (GDS), the Service Transformation team wanted to test how services could work better together to support people to stay in – or return to – work.
This blog shares what we learned from testing a proactive approach to providing support. We built a basic prototype in GDS, and we worked with the NHS and a national patient organisation, the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS), to test it.
The blueprint for modern digital government sets an ambitious vision to make public services better and easier to use. Our plan is to create services that are clear, joined-up, and accessible to everyone.
In June 2025, we shared our first steps toward making government services work better together – starting with health, disability, and work. Since then, we’ve created a testing version of a tool to help people with long-term health conditions or disabilities find support more easily. We tested this idea with an NHS team in South Tyneside and with NRAS’s patient volunteers.
Understanding the challenge: why joined-up services matter
People with long-term health conditions or disabilities often need help from many health and government services. They have to give the same information again and again. This takes time and can be stressful.
One study found that people spend up to nine working days a year just doing health admin – worth £4.3 billion in work time (source: Everyday administrative burdens and inequality). Our own research also showed that some people stop working because the support they get isn’t joined-up or easy to use.
Why this matters
Some people use more than 43 different health and government services. When this support is confusing or not joined-up, people can miss the help they need. This can cause stress and wasted time, and can mean people stop working, even when they don’t want to.
What we wanted to find out
We wanted to understand this problem better.
Our hypothesis was:
“People with long-term health problems or disabilities sometimes stop working when they don’t need to or want to. The help they need is hard to find and confusing. If we give the right help at the right time, more people can keep working or go back to work.”
What we did
We created a new testing version of an online tool, and worked with the NHS and NRAS patient views representatives (volunteers) to test this. The tool was a prototype, not a live service. It helped people find the relevant support after a healthcare professional gave them a fit note, focusing on people who are employed but may need help to stay in their job.
In South Tyneside, people who saw a First Contact Physiotherapist at their GP practice received a text message with a link to the tool. This message was sent only if they were given a fit note. This helped us test if offering support early – soon after someone gets a fit note – could make it easier for them to get the help they need to stay in work.
The feedback showed that meeting people where they already are with a proactive message, made people more aware of support that’s available. We found that people spent most time looking at the information about fit notes, sick pay, and returning to work.
What people told us
We spoke to patients and healthcare professionals, and looked at how they used the tool. We heard that:
- It’s confusing and hard to get help.
- People want clear support and joined-up services.
- People know that sharing their information can help, but it’s not always easy.
- The tool was helpful – especially for help with sick pay, benefits, and going back to work.
- Plain language and well-timed support make a big difference.
Important lessons
Here’s what we’re taking forward to improve services:
- People need clear, joined-up help.
- Repeating the same information to lots of services slows everything down.
- Plain language and timing matter.
- Data sharing is essential but needs care.
- Working together across healthcare and government makes tools better.
Next steps
We worked with other teams across government and the NHS to share ideas for what should happen next:
- Share data better and safely to help people.
- Use the NHS app to bring health and government help together.
- Keep learning from people to understand their needs better.
Looking ahead
We now understand more about the challenges people with long-term health conditions or disabilities face – and we have ideas to make things better.
This work is an important step towards making government services more joined-up, accessible, and focused on the needs of the people who use them. We would love to hear your thoughts on this work, so please get in touch via [email protected].
