Mental health charity Mind has today welcomed the results of an independent review of the medical tests designed to assess whether people are fit for work.

In his review, Professor Malcolm Harrington said the Work Capability Assessments (WCA) were not working as well as they should be, adding that the system was too "impersonal and mechanistic".

The Government announced it would be making changes to the WCA following the Harrington Review recommendations.

Mind said the review was an important step towards making access to benefits fairer, but also warned that plans to start pushing incapacity benefits (IB) claimants through the test need to be delayed if the recommendations were not implemented in time.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: "We have had grave concerns about the WCA since its introduction in 2008 and our involvement in Professor Harrington's review of the assessment process has been a welcome opportunity to put across the numerous challenges faced by people with mental health problems who are applying for employment support allowance (ESA).

"We welcome the Government's positive response to the review, but it is imperative that the recommendations are implemented and the updated WCA is ready in time for plans to start migrating people from IB onto ESA.

"It is clear from this independent review that the WCA in its current form is flawed and that it is not a fair or effective tool to determine whether or not someone is capable of working.

"Some of Harrington's recommendations are 'quick-fixes' which should be easy enough to action, but many more will require cultural shifts in the delivery of the WCA, which will take time to fully implement and evaluate.

"In addition to this there will also be the results of the revised WCA pilots being run in Burnley and Aberdeen as well as the amendments that Mind along with the National Autistic Society and Mencap have been asked to propose to further improve the test.

"It would be counter-intuitive to push ahead with current plans to start migrating the people who are on IB over to ESA in April if the changes to the WCA are not embedded in sufficient time.

"We will be monitoring how the recommendations accepted are implemented and whether they have the desired effect on the assessment process."

Mind highlights the case of Liz for who applied for ESA last year as she could not work due to her depression and anxiety, but was refused.

Liz said: "My experience of the test was horrendous. Despite two GPs, a psychiatrist and a senior nurse all stating I was not able to work, a 54 minute, poorly carried-out assessment disagreed.

"I seriously doubt how much understanding my assessor had about mental health though - comments in my report included things like: 'did not appear to be trembling...sweating...or make rocking movements'.

"The whole process has been so stressful and definitely damaging to my mental health. The fact that in my appeal I went from 0 to 21 points in about 20 minutes flat shows how wrong the test was. I'm relieved it's over though, so now I can focus on recovering and eventually getting back to work, which is what I want to do."

Professor Harrington recommended that more "decision makers" should be appointed to deal with cases and make the system more "human" as well as improving the system for assessing people with mental health problems.

He also called for better communication and feedback between staff and those undergoing an assessment.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said the Government accepted all the recommendations in the review, adding that it was determined to press ahead with the "long term culture" of welfare dependency in the UK, which had led to more than two million people claiming incapacity benefits.

He said: "Improving the WCA is central to our commitment to help thousands of people start the journey back to work and the Harrington Review is a crucial step towards this.

"It's in everyone's interest that we get the WCA right and Professor Harrington's recommendations will make the assessment fairer and more effective."

For more information visit www.mind.org.uk.

Source: Emma Foster, Community Newswire, Press Association