WORK & HEALTH
The DWP return is the part everyone is dreading. Joy makes it a by-product of coaching, not an extra job after it.
WorkWell delivery starts in November. Every ICB in England now carries the same monthly participant-level MI obligations that 12 of 15 pilot sites met in full. Where the return is embedded in the coaching workflow, outcome completeness runs at Effectively 100%. Joy is the ready-made tool: it finds the people, fills your programmes, and makes the DWP data a natural output of the case record.
Jamie Tartt, referred by Obisanya Surgery
- Back in workRecorded
- Sustained at 4 weeksConfirmed
- Return ready to submitYes
Illustration, synthetic data
DWP REPORTING REALITY
The compliance challenge is bigger than the pilot showed.
The WorkWell pilot ran in 15 sites. Only 12 of 15 submitted valid management information throughout, and DWP published no employment or health outcome statistics for the ~34,000 participants who went through. From autumn 2026, every ICB in England inherits that same reporting obligation, funded at up to £259m.
pilot sites submitted valid MI in full: the other 3 did not, and 2 had delivery delayed by data-sharing difficulties
participant starts in the pilot: management information was produced, but no employment or health outcome statistics were published
outcome completeness when the DWP return is embedded in the coaching workflow (4,039 of 4,040 records), versus roughly 19% when it is a separate task in a separate tool
Source: Joy WorkWell Playbook, aggregated operational records from pilot systems; Joy platform database (19% figure, Joy replica)
HOW JOY HELPS
Find the people. Fill the programme. Prove it worked.
Joy covers the whole loop: from the earliest health signal through to the DWP data submission, with outcome evidence your board and your national evaluation return can actually use.
FIND
Reach people before they fall out of work.
The earliest signal that someone is struggling is in the health system: the GP consultation, the fit note, the community caseload. Joy sees all three, identifying people with health barriers to work where they actually present, plus self-referral routes for people and employers.
Kent Practice, flagged this week
- Fit note issued, 3rd in 12 weeksGP record
- Off work 4+ weeks, back painConsultation
- Community caseload, low moodCaseload
Illustration, synthetic data
FILL
Get people through the door, with attendance measured.
Referrals route directly into your WorkWell and Connect to Work provision. Attendance is measured automatically, so your employment specialists can focus on coaching rather than administration.
Jamie Tartt, referred by Obisanya Surgery
- TriageEligible
- First appointmentBooked, Tue 10:30
- AttendanceMeasured
Illustration, synthetic data
PROVE
~62,000 fewer fit notes a year, counted from GP records.
The measured reduction is 55% fewer fit notes (from 0.90 to 0.40 per patient per year) across 123,617 patients, and a 40% reduction in GP contacts for high-dependency patients (17.5 to 10.5 a year). Joy records every intervention and outcome in a DWP-compliant way, feeding your employment-outcome reporting rather than replacing it.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026; absolute: Joy platform database, July 2026
Jamie Tartt, 6 months after referral
fit notes issued, read from the GP record
interventions attended and recorded
Illustration, synthetic data
THE SCHEMES
One platform, every named scheme.
The schemes carry different names, but the delivery problem is the same: find eligible people early, run the pathway, capture the data, prove the outcome. Joy covers them all. For Connect to Work and the IPS streams (IPS in primary care, IPS for severe mental illness and IPS for drug and alcohol), Joy finds the people and routes the referral in. For WorkWell and the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, Joy runs the whole loop: identification, referral, case management and the DWP data submission.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026
Full loop: identify, refer, case-manage, submit to DWP
WORKWELL
Live and compliant by November
Case finding, triage, referral pathways, case management, DWP data capture and reporting: the full loop, running through named WorkWell services on Joy today. 13,782 WorkWell referrals since the programme began, 10,410 in the last 12 months.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026
See how the pathway runs on JoyYOUTH GUARANTEE TRAILBLAZERS
The Youth Guarantee pilot phase, live on Joy now
Launched May 2025 across eight mayoral combined authority areas for 18 to 21 year olds not in education, employment or training (or at risk of it). Joy runs the same full loop here as WorkWell: 6 open Trailblazer-titled services listed on Joy, including the London Borough of Havering Trailblazers and Croydon's Life ReWorked Trailblazer Employment Programme.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026
Find and refer: Joy identifies the people and routes the referral in
CONNECT TO WORK
Live and growing across the country
Joy's case finding and referral routes feed Connect to Work provision, with attendance measured. 37 Connect to Work services listed on Joy, 36 of them open, from Worcestershire and Coventry to Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Richmond, Kingston and Sutton, Leicester and South Yorkshire, and 154 referrals into Connect to Work services on Joy, all of them within the last 12 months.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026
IPS
Individual Placement and Support: three streams, one referral route
IPS covers three commissioned streams, all routed through the same Joy directory and referral infrastructure: IPS in primary care (IPSPC) for adults with common mental or physical health conditions; IPS for severe mental illness (IPS SMI), delivered through NHS community mental health teams; and IPS for alcohol and drug dependence (IPS-AD), commissioned by OHID through substance-misuse treatment services.
33 IPS-titled employment services listed on Joy, with 439 referrals into IPS services on Joy all-time, 81 of them in the last 12 months.
Source: Joy platform database, July 2026
Built on Joy Case Management
The product behind this lane is Joy Case Management: caseload management, referral routes and outcome reporting configured for work and health services, including WorkWell and Trailblazers / Youth Guarantee.
Explore Joy Case ManagementGO DEEPER
The evidence and the playbook, ready to use.
The fit note evidence base and a practical six-step guide for standing up WorkWell, Connect to Work, IPS in primary care, IPS for severe mental illness, IPS for drug and alcohol and Trailblazer provision.
REPORT
The Fit Note Economy: what happens after the signature
An evidence report on fit notes, worklessness and what changes when work and health support is wired into the moment of certification.
Get accessGUIDE
Work and health service guide
A practical guide for commissioners and service leads standing up work and health support, from WorkWell to Connect to Work, IPS (primary care, severe mental illness, and alcohol and drug dependence) and the Trailblazers.
Get accessGuides and reports are free for NHS and public sector teams: tell us who you are and we will email you a personal access link. Browse all resources
Trusted by councils, boroughs and community partners delivering work and health support
Your WorkWell service goes live in 29 days (1 November 2026).
Speak to our team about finding the people, filling the programme and proving it worked. Not ready for a call? Start with the evidence.