The cost of providing health and disability assessments to help decide if people on long-term sick leave should return to work is rising while providers are struggling to meet expected performance standards.

This is the conclusion of a National Audit Office (NAO) report released today.

At least two of the assessment providers have recruited additional healthcare professionals to carry out assessments.

The report reveals an estimated backlog of 280k employment and support allowance (ESA) assessments in August 2015, with an estimated 23-week wait for claimants to be processed.

However, providers now take four weeks to process personal independence payment (PIP) assessments, compared to a peak of 29 weeks in mid-2014, and ESA claims falling from 29 weeks in 2014.

The report also finds providers Atos and Capita have failed to meet PIP assessment quality targets since October 2013, while provider Maximus has struggled to recruit enough specialist medical staff to meet demand.

In March last year, US firm Maximus took over from French firm Atos as the government’s work capability assessment (WCA) provider. Atos carries out 77% of PIP assessments, with Capita picking up the remaining 23%.

Under this contract the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) expects to pay £595m over three years for 3.4m assessments. This is around £190 per assessment, compared with £115 per assessment under the previous contract with Atos.

Meanwhile, rising salaries have contributed to a 65% rise in the average cost of each assessment – from £115 to £190.

Responding to the report, an Atos Healthcare spokesperson told Recruiter in a statement it has invested in more than 40 new assessment centres and recruited an additional 500 healthcare professionals to carry out PIP assessments. 

The spokesperson added significant investment had been made in relation to the quality of Atos’ reports. According to the spokesperson this has been reflected in “continually improving” audit results meaning 99% of its reports are being accepted without rework by DWP case managers.

The spokesperson added Atos was pleased the NAO had acknowledged the smooth transition of its former WCA contract.

A spokesperson from the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments, part of Maximus, told Recruiter it has already implemented new recruitment and retention plans to support the higher proportion of face-to-face assessments it now carries out, as well as to meet the requirements of its contract going forward.

A Capita spokesperson told Recruiter in a statement: “We are committed to continually improving our performance so we can deliver a value for money service for taxpayers and a positive claimant experience.”

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