Recommendation 7

Following our predecessor’s 2018 Report, the Government commissioned research into the impacts of health assessment questionnaires and is now feeding that learning into its policy development. We have also heard important insight from academics on the mental health impacts of assessments, but studies have been sporadic and rely on the data made available to them. As the Government reforms health assessments, quality research will be vital to measure success. The Government should commit to undertaking regular reviews of the mental health impacts of its end-to-end process of health assessments, including comparing them to assessments undertaken elsewhere in Government, such as social care. It should also ensure external researchers have access to good quality, anonymised data to complement this with independent research.