Navigating the health–work interface—vocational rehabilitation in the UK

The interface between work and health is complex and poses a variety of issues for health professionals. Health factors may be congenital or inherited (or acquired at an early age) or present later in life. They may recover fully, improve partially, leave fluctuating levels of impairment (e.g. multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis) or progress inexorably (e.g. motor neurone disease) [1]. The end result of these differing health pathways may lead to difficulties working—and the numbers are huge. Government estimates indicate that there are over 7 million people with disabilities of working age in the UK, of whom 48% are out of work, with consequentially higher mortality and lower quality of life compared with 80% of non-disabled individuals who are in work [2]. This ‘disability employment gap’ is unacceptable in the caring society that health professionals strive for.

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