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Pharmacists are set to play a part in a Government pilot which will help the disabled and people with health conditions back to work.

Labour said the WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, which is being backed by £1.5 million in funding and takes place in 15 regions across England, will “transform how fit notes are issued” and seeks to end the “practice of immediately writing people off” by looking at other ways to help them into employment.

The Government’s ambition is to support up to 56,000 disabled people and those with health conditions into work by next spring.

“Currently, of the 11 million fit notes issued electronically in primary care across England last year, 93 per cent simply declared people ‘not fit for work’, offering no constructive alternative or support pathway,” the Government said.

As part of the pilot, it said “specialist professionals” such as pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists will work in “WorkWell sites” where they will “provide comprehensive support that benefits patients and employers and reduces pressure on primary care services”.

“Patients will receive targeted and timely support to manage their health condition while exploring realistic options for staying in or returning to work, rather than facing a dead-end ‘not fit for work’ declaration,” the Government said.

The pilot will also see GP teams hire work and health coaches and social prescribers who will refer patients to “holistic support” where they will get “help and advice, from gym memberships to career coaching”.

The regions taking part in the pilot are Birmingham and Solihull, Black Country, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Coventry and Warwickshire, Frimley, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, North Central London, North-West London, South Yorkshire and Surrey Heartlands.