NHS England rolls out national project enlisting employment coaches to find jobs for mental health patients

The NHS will hire 300 employment coaches who will find patients jobs to keep them out of hospital. It assumes people with work work tend to be in better health, visit their GP less and are less likely to require hospital treatment. The specialists will help people with severe mental illness to seek work and hold down a job, and will offer assistance on CVs and interview techniques. They’re expected to work with 20,000 people by 2021. Pilot projects currently running in four cities suggest that the coaches find work for at least a quarter of users. The program’s being extended nationwide.