Rescare first noticed the acronym MFC in an on-line article by Andrew Fagg on the BBC News website dated 24th August 2012: Sickness benefit contractor Atos Healthcare to review letters – which reported criticisms, from individuals and representative organisations such as MIND, of how Atos treated and communicated with persons with a variety of mental health issues.
“In statements, the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos said they were working with disability groups to improve the medical tests, known as the Work Capability Assessment, and had recruited 60 “mental function champions” to give advice to the doctors and nurses carrying out the tests”.
It now appears that MFCs have been in place since May 2011: and that their role is to advise health professionals, the assessors , not to assist the assessees, to judge from an exchange in Parliament on 10th Sept 2012:-
Roger Godsiff (Birmingham, Hall Green, Labour): “To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals with identified mental health conditions for work capability assessment purposes who took their case to appeal had the services of a mental function champion made available since July 2011.”
Mark Hoban (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; Fareham, Conservative): “Mental function champions (MFCs) have been in place on a regional basis since May 2011. It is not the role of the MFC to assess individual cases. They are expected to assist and advise health care professional (HCP) colleagues on how to deal with any aspect of a case involving mental function or learning disability. MFCs are available to provide telephone support to any HCP who wants further advice or guidance before, during or after the work capability assessment.”
Rescare will try to discover more about how MFCs are appointed and what qualifications they are expected to possess; and we do wonder who or what they are supposed to be championing…