A new system for PIP and Universal Credit assessments is being trialled to improve the process for claimants with long-term health conditions.

Under the new scheme, healthcare professionals with specific knowledge of their condition will look at their assessment rather than general healthcare workers.

The DWP said the new method will "provide an enhanced understanding of the impact of long-term health conditions on what a claimant can do”.

The department said it is also intended to “improve claimant confidence and trust in assessments, and make the process more efficient”.

Some 500 claimants are taking part in the trial from September 2023 to January 2024 and the scheme may be expanded if it is successful.

The move follows criticism in a parliamentary debate in which it was said that disability benefits applicants are being assessed by healthcare workers whose field of expertise is either "at complete odds with or outside the medical condition being assessed."

Conservative MP, told MPs of one case where a person with a mobility-based disability had been assessed by a dental hygienist.

The debate also heard that from October to December 2022, 69 per cent of PIP applications that were taken to a tribunal were won by the applicant, with the majority of the decisions based on existing evidence already provided to the DWP rather than anything new. This has prompted calls for the PIP claims process to be revamped.

The new assessment scheme comes as part of a wider push to focus on what disabled people can do, rather than what they can't.

This includes £2billion announced at the Spring Budget to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions into work.

Part of this package includes Universal Support, an employment initiative that will ramp up to support at least 50,000 people a year from 2025/26.

The latest phase of this programme, backed by £53million, began earlier this month across the country to provide personalised help to people facing barriers to work.

The Government is also proposing changes to the work capability assessment to reflect the rise of flexible and home working and better employer support for disabled people and people with health conditions.

Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, said: "Many of our claimants have complex health conditions, and this trial will explore whether they could benefit from support from medical professionals with specialist knowledge.

“I am pleased that we continue to deliver on our promises made in the Health and Disability White Paper, improving the benefits experience for claimants and providing opportunities for them to benefit from work where appropriate, putting the emphasis on what they can do rather than what they can't."

Disabilities minister, Tom Pursglove, said: "We continue to refine and reform our assessment process to ensure all our claimants are treated fairly and with the dignity they deserve, building confidence in decision-making and improving people’s experience of the claim journey.

“This new trial will inform further work to refine the process of claiming benefits, and I am thrilled to see it getting underway."

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