Improve Your Health and Get Your Career Back on Track with IPS Services in Greater Manchester

• Individual Placement and Support (IPS) offers tailored employment support to people with health conditions and disabilities.
• By blending employment support and healthcare, IPS services can help improve people’s overall wellbeing and enable them to find or stay in work.
• The Growth Company runs several IPS services in Greater Manchester.

Finding or keeping a job while managing a health condition or disability can be incredibly challenging.

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services are designed to help you overcome these challenges. By combining employment support with healthcare, they aim to improve your wellbeing and make sure you can move into work or stay in your current job.

So, how do these services work in practice, and what support is available for people and employers in Greater Manchester?

What support does IPS offer to individuals?

IPS services offer a wide range of support to individuals. For example, they can help you boost your skills, update your CV, search for the right jobs, prepare for interviews, and get advice on benefits. They can help you speak to employers about any flexibility or adaptations you might need at work, too.

This support doesn’t stop once you’ve found a job, either. It continues for as long as you need it or it is feasible, ensuring that you succeed in your new role.

It also brings together employment specialists and health teams to make sure the help you get suits your specific needs. This includes both your job goals and your wellbeing.

What’s more, IPS supports people who are returning to work after a long absence, involving employers so they can make reasonable changes in the office, on the shop floor, or on site.

What support does IPS offer to employers?

IPS services help employers support new and existing employees who are at risk of leaving their roles due to a health condition or disability.

They partner with employers to address the causes of long-term sick leave, working alongside health professionals to ensure employees’ unique health needs are satisfied.

Why are IPS services effective?

IPS services are effective for two main reasons.

First, they take a joined-up approach, linking employment support with medical treatment. This guarantees that people receive broad care that addresses both their career aims and health needs, which is important for promoting long-term employment and welfare.

Second, a key part of IPS services is that support extends to employers and continues even after a person has started a job. This ongoing support creates an encouraging work environment, making it more likely that employees maintain their positions in the long run.

Together, these methods have been shown to lead to improved health outcomes, job prospects, and quality of life.

How can I access IPS support in Greater Manchester?

IPS services are open to all individuals with physical or mental health conditions and disabilities who express an interest in working, regardless of the severity of their challenges or employment history. These services are available across Greater Manchester through the Growth Company and other providers:

• Wellness in Work IPS: This programme is designed to support people in Greater Manchester who have been diagnosed with, or identify as having, a severe mental illness. It offers assistance for those seeking help with finding or staying in work.
• WorkWell: A Greater Manchester programme dedicated to helping disabled people and those with health conditions to remain and thrive in employment. Working with individuals, employers, and health professionals, WorkWell creates personalised plans to ensure success in the workplace.
• Working Well: Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care: Another IPS scheme in Greater Manchester that supports disabled people and those with long-term physical or mental health conditions that make it difficult to find or keep work. The scheme delivers tailored support and guidance, focusing on each individuals’ needs to help them achieve long-lasting employment.

IPS in practice

A year or so ago, Vicki was looking to return to work after experiencing a life-changing injury.

To this end, Vicki’s support worker referred her to the Working Well: Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care team. She was soon introduced to an employment specialist called Margo. Together, they talked about possible roles and personalised working conditions to support Vicki’s recovery.

Margo helped Vicki update her CV and contact local employers, focusing on remote and hybrid roles. After getting an interview, Margo set up mock interviews and referred Vicki to clothing charity SmartWorks to make sure she had appropriate workwear.

Vicki aced the interview and secured a full-time, remote role as a claims assessor. Margo continued to support Vicki on the job, supporting her in discussing reasonable adjustments and applying for Access to Work, which provided suitable office equipment.

Three months into the new role, Vicki's confidence had grown, and she was thoroughly enjoying her work. She said: “I am loving the job! The people are all amazing and I feel very comfortable. My employer has been very welcoming and understanding, allowing me to take Wednesday afternoons off work to continue with my weekly physiotherapy appointments.”

Vicki continued regular appointments with Margo, who supported her progress. Reflecting on this support, Vicki said: “Margo has been amazing, and has been with me through thick and thin - not just there to do the job, but even at times acts as a therapist. Anything you need, she is there. She has held me up and got me through the worst time of my life, I can’t fault her at all.

“The process is amazing. I found myself in a terrible position – never been out of work, never been disabled, felt on my own, no way out, and didn’t know how to move forward. This programme should be spoken about more, so other people in my situation can get the same support, hopefully before they get into as terrible a position as I did.”

Get IPS support today

If you want to find out more about the services we offer, or if you’d like to refer yourself or someone else, you can:

• Visit our dedicated webpage.
• Call us on 0161 237 4451.
• Email us at gcsupportservices@gcemployment.uk.

The Growth Company

The Growth Company is an award-winning social enterprise with a 30-year history of enabling growth, creating jobs, and improving lives. We help people and businesses to develop, grow, and succeed through a range of employment, skills, and business support services. We provide employment, justice, and health services across the North of England and beyond.

Contact us today to find out more.