Suffolk Man Backs NHS and EEDA Plans

25 March 2010, 06:18 | Updated: 25 March 2010, 06:26

A Suffolk man who claimed incapacity benefits for a year has welcomed moves to get more people back to work.

The NHS and The East of England Development Agency has announced plans to get people jobs they can do in spite of injury and illness.

Latest figures in Suffolk show more than 21,000 people claim incapacity benefits. The joint initiative will focus on supporting people with an illness, sickness, injury or disability, to get them back into work.

Hear from Paul Pester (pictured here) on Heart this morning. He had a 2 year break from work after suffering health problems with Arthritis in his neck, back, wrists and an embolism in his leg.

Paul was referred to Whitehouse Enterprises in Ipswich in April 2008 to assess his ability to return to work. During this time he trained on the assembling of various garden benches. Paul successfully completed the programme.  It was evident that Paul was able to manage his disability when completing the physical tasks with the support of other team members. He was made permanent following his progression from Workstep in July 2009.