Strengthening work and health integration in North West London

Imperial College London’s School of Public Health hosted a North West London Work and Health Research Collaborative Thought Leadership Roundtable on 3 December 2024, bringing together regional leaders from the NHS, the West London Alliance, Shaw Trust, Local Authorities, DWP/DHSC and academic partners to advance a unified research and innovation agenda across North West London.

The event was co-convened by Dr Austen El-Osta and Ann Waugh (WorkWell Learning and Change Programme Manager, NHS North West London ICB & West London Alliance) and chaired by Julie Leonars (Chief Impact Office, The Shaw Trust) and explored how evidence, data integration and implementation science can shape future employment-support models for economically inactive residents in North West London.

Setting the context: a shared mission to address economic inactivity

The roundtable opened with a strategic overview of the region’s challenges and opportunities: 131,900 people in the area are economically inactive, emphasising the need for coordinated, evidence-informed approaches to improving employment, health and wellbeing. Speakers highlighted the robust infrastructure already in place including co-located employment coaches in GP practices, integrated musculoskeletal (MSK) community pathways and long-standing contracts with specialist providers such as Shaw Trust to build a system capable of supporting the 192,000 economically inactive residents across the 8 NWL boroughs. 

Imperial’s contribution centred on the role of academic research as a policy driver, with ongoing large-scale evaluations generating insights that are already shaping regional and national thinking. The Department for Work and Pensions presented priority research areas, including opportunities linked to the national WorkWell programme.

Dr Austen El-Osta, Co-convenor of the thought leadership roundtable and Director of the Self-Care Academic Research Unit (SCARU), Imperial College London said: “North West London has the ingredients to become a national exemplar for integrating work, health and data-driven innovation. What we are building together is more than a collection of pilots. It’s the foundation of a long-term system capable of improving lives at scale. By aligning academic rigour with frontline insight and policy ambition, we can create evidence that meaningfully reshapes how the country supports people to thrive”.

Showcasing NWL’s unique research infrastructure

One of the defining assets of North West London is its population-level, multi-programme dataset, underpinned by NHS numbers and National Insurance identifiers. This enables detailed tracking of participant journeys through employment support, health pathways, skills development and community services. With more than 20,000 programme participants already included in West London Alliance datasets, the region is uniquely positioned to undertake sophisticated longitudinal and quasi-experimental analyses. 

Contributors emphasised the transformative potential of linking Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC) health data with HMRC earnings and DWP benefits data, an ambition that would create one of the most advanced employment-health analytic ecosystems in the UK.

Ann Waugh, WorkWell Learning and Change Programme Manager at the West London Alliance said: “By bringing together world-class academic partners, frontline practitioners and national policymakers, North West London is uniquely positioned to turn evidence into action. This partnership strengthens our ability to innovate, to evaluate and to build the future of integrated work and health support with confidence and clarity in how we deliver WorkWell for people benefit”.

Research insights unveiled

Researchers from Imperial College’s School of Public Health and Imperial College Health Partners presented preliminary findings from several ongoing studies, including:

• Patterns and predictors of fit notes in NWL (2017-2025), highlighting substantial mental health and MSK burden among working-age adults.
• Primary care utilisation among WorkWell participants, showing reduced GP appointments and early indications of medication optimisation among specific subgroups.
• The MSK Trailblazer, which is piloting multi-agency integration for residents with MSK needs, supported by physiotherapists, employment coaches and skills advisers.

Collectively, these findings highlight where integrated approaches are beginning to generate measurable improvement and where further analysis is required to understand long-term outcomes. 

Identifying future research priorities

Roundtable discussions surfaced several priority areas for a strengthened NWL research strategy:

• Longitudinal cohort studies following participants over multiple years
• Quasi-experimental evaluation opportunities, using practices with and without integrated support
• Predictive analytics to identify individuals at high risk of becoming economically inactive
• Local Authority data integration, supporting more precise triage and personalised support
• Implementation science, to understand what enables sustainable system-wide change

Outputs from table groups emphasised that NWL has the infrastructure, partnerships and research depth to become a national exemplar for work-health integration.

Julie Leonard, Chief Impact Officer at Shaw Trust, and Chair of the event said: “At Shaw Trust, our work starts with people, their barriers, aspirations and potential. Today’s conversation affirmed that when we combine lived experience with high-quality research and integrated local services, we can create pathways that enable people not only to return to work, but to rebuild confidence and wellbeing. NWL is showing the country what effective partnership looks like”.

Next steps: building a national model for work and health

The event concluded with agreement to establish thematic working groups spanning system design, fit note transformation, neighbourhood integration, researcher collaboration, cross-programme evaluation and data-sharing advancements. These groups will drive a coordinated NWL research portfolio aligned with DWP/DHSC priorities and capable of informing future national policy.

A cross-cutting theme was the essential role of self-care within WorkWell as supporting residents to understand, manage and optimise their physical and mental health is central to sustaining participation, not an optional add-on. As WorkWell continues to develop, NWL’s integrated model offers a unique environment to test how structured self-care support, personalised coaching and community-based interventions contribute to resilience, autonomy and longer-term employment outcomes. Imperial College London School of Public Health will continue to lead on generating rigorous evidence and policy insight, reinforcing NWL’s position as a national exemplar for integrated work, health and self-care innovation.