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<p>The Health and Disability White Paper, published in March 2023, set out ambitious
and extensive reforms to further support disabled people including exploring the initiative
referred to as “Specialist Assessors”.</p><p>As the term “specialist” has a very specific
meaning in a medical context, the decision has been made to rename the initiative
to “Condition Focused Assessors” to avoid misalignment with clinical definitions.
The ambition and intent of the initiative remains the same.</p><p>In September 2023,
we began a small-scale test matching certain PIP claimants’ primary health condition
to an existing healthcare professional (HCP) with relevant clinical experience. This
test ran until January 2024, at which point it was expanded to cover claimants with
multiple conditions.</p><p>We continue to work closely with key stakeholders and support
organisations as we progress our testing. Initial exploratory research will be published
later this year. The Health Transformation Programme looks to publish evaluation when
services are suitably developed, and when findings are robust and provide a representative
picture of our progress.</p>
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