HC Deb 02 December 2002 vol 395 cc619-20W
Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to widen the remit of NHS Plus to include vocational rehabilitation. [84045]

Mr. Lammy

NHS Plus providers are a network of 115 occupational health departments in the national health service in England. They provide a wide range of occupational health services, which includes advice on rehabilitation. Occupational health services are a component of vocational rehabilitation and it therefore already falls within the remit of the NHS Plus unit to sell each service to those providing vocational rehabilitation.

Where possible, NHS Plus will offer support to the Government's latest vocational rehabilitation initiatives, the "Health, Work and Recovery" programme, led by the Department for Work and Pensions and "Pathways to Work: Helping People into Employment", the new Green Paper presented to Parliament on 18 November by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.