Former property manager says 'biggest fear is going into workplace' after decade off sick

Kris Jepson reports on how an overhaul of the welfare system could help those on the long-term sick like Paul Harris who has been out of work nearly a decade

A former property manager who has been out of work for nearly a decade says his "biggest fear is going into the workplace again".

Paul Harris shared his experience of long-term sickness with ITV News as the government announced an overhaul to the welfare system aimed at getting more people back into work.

Among the measures in the plan to “get Britain working” is extra support for people who are unemployed due to long-term sickness.

Living in the North East, which has one of the largest numbers of long term jobless, Paul said his mental health issues means he feels unable to access the workplace despite his desire to contribute.

"The biggest thing I think for me is just the fear of even sort of going into the workplace again. I don’t even think companies would want to employ me anyway," he said.

Paul, who lives in Middleton-in-Teesdale, in County Durham, went into mental health crisis eight years ago when his panic attacks escalated due to stress at work in London.

"I do feel my biggest barrier is myself in a way because it's so difficult to know how I feel," he continued. "Any day could be different. My mood can change within an hour," he said.

"I can go from feeling fine and happy to feeling really depressed and shutting myself in away in a room, so I think it’s just those, it’s sort of locked, a culmination of lots of different things."

The North East has the second highest rate of people not working in England behind Yorkshire and the Humber.

As part of the government's plans, 8,500 new mental health staff will be employed to support 140,000 patients, extra health workers introduced to clear NHS backlogs, and a £125m trailblazer scheme in three regions, including the North East, will join up health, work and skills support.

Job centres will also be overhauled to provide a more personal service and every 18-21 year old offered an apprenticeship, training or education to help them find jobs through the new youth guarantee.

Paul said he welcomed the sentiment for change from the government but warned more still needs to be done to tackle mental health issues to ready them for work.

"They need to do more at the root cause. If they can get people feeling better, then I believe people would be able to get back into work," Paul continued.

Medics in the region are optimistic of focused improvements to the region’s workforce.

DR Neil O'Brien, GP for the NE Integrated Care Board, said: "It is challenging to get people back, but in my experience as a GP, a lot of people want to get back to work.

"They see the benefit to their physical and mental health for being out in employment, so there is definitely things we can do.

"We’ve got a track record, actually, of delivering schemes like this. We’ve got a pilot programme in Durham and Tees Valley that’s actually managed to get 1,800 people back to work."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “From the broken NHS, flatlining economy, and the millions of people left unemployed and trapped in an inactivity spiral - this Government inherited a country that simply isn’t working.

“But today we’ve set out a plan to fix this. A plan that tackles the biggest drivers of unemployment and inactivity and gives young people their future back through real, meaningful change instead of empty rhetoric and sticking plaster politics.”

Sir Keir added that the government’s reforms would “put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work” and help people into “decent, well-paid jobs”.

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