GPs could soon be stripped of powers to hand out sick notes

GPs will lose the ability to sign people off work (Picture: Getty Images)

GP’s will soon be stripped of the ability to sign people off work as part of a major government inititive to crack down on ‘sick note culture’.

In a major speech on welfare reform today, Rishi Sunak will warn that a surge in people signed off sick with mental health conditions is placing ‘unsustainable’ pressure on the welfare budget.

The Prime Minister will say the focus must shift to what work people ‘might’ be able to do, rather than what they can’t, and that people should avoid ‘over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life.’

The speech comes a month after Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride faced criticism for an interview in which he said there was ‘a real risk’ that ‘the normal ups and downs of human life’ were being labelled as medical conditions which then held people back from working.

Mr Stride told LBC Radio this morning: ‘If you look at issues like long-term sickness, disability, and you add up all the costs of all the benefits there, you get to about £69 billion.

‘The most worrying aspect of all of this… is the increased cost going forward. So all the forecasts are for these benefits to be skyrocketing upwards in time. And that is something that we must address. Enough is enough on that one is my message.

‘So what you will be hearing from the Prime Minister is that we will be taking measures to make sure that welfare spend is under control.’

In his vision for a ‘new welfare settlement for Britain,’ Mr Sunak is expected to pledge not to dismiss or downplay illness, but to call for a ‘more ambitious’ approach to helping people back to work.

But his comments have been heavily criticised by medical professionals and disability charities, who have accused the PM of being ‘driven by bringing costs down rather than how we support disabled people’.

The Prime Minister will say: ‘We should see it as a sign of progress that people can talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable, and I will never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have.

‘But just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong merely to sit back and accept it because it’s too hard; or too controversial; or for fear of causing offence. Doing so, would let down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help.’

Works and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride says sick notes are costing the government £69 billion a year (Picture: PA)

He will say there is a ‘growing body of evidence that good work can actually improve mental and physical health’.

Mr Sunak will add: ‘We need to be more ambitious about helping people back to work and more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life.’

The Government said recent NHS data showed almost 11 million fit notes were issued last year, and said many are repeat fit notes ‘issued without any advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work’.

Mr Sunak is expected to refer to challenges presented since the pandemic, with the Government saying a ‘significant number of working aged people have become inactive due to long term sickness which has in large part been driven by mental health conditions’.

He is expected to say: ‘We don’t just need to change the sick note, we need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do – not what you can’t.

‘Building on the pilots we’ve already started we’re going to design a new system where people have easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support to help them back to work from the very first Fit Note conversation.

‘We’re also going to test shifting the responsibility for assessment from GPs and giving it to specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so.’

Should GPs be stripped of the ability to sign people off work?Comment Now

Since 2020, the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness has risen significantly, reaching a record high of 2.8 million people as of February 2024, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

A large proportion of those report suffering from depression, bad nerves or anxiety, although most of those report these as secondary conditions rather than the main one keeping them out of work.

James Taylor, Scope director of strategy, said: ‘We’ve had decades of disabled people being let down by failing health and work assessments; and a broken welfare system designed to be far more stick than carrot.

‘Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty amongst disabled households is growing.’

He added: ‘We hope this system has been designed with disabled people and has been crafted to work with them not against them.’

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