GPs to lose the power to sign people off work

GPs are to be stripped of their power to sign people off work, under plans for a crackdown on Britain’s ‘sick note culture’.

In a major speech 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 it is time to be ‘more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life’.

He will set out a vision of a ‘new welfare settlement for Britain’, in which people will be expected to work wherever possible, in return for assistance in tackling health conditions holding them back.

New figures this week revealed that the number of people considered ‘economically inactive’ after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8 million.

New figures this week revealed that the number of people considered ‘economically inactive’ after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic (file image)

Around half are signed off with depression, anxiety and bad nerves.

The Prime Minister will also highlight figures showing that GPs issue so-called ‘fit notes’ to 94 per cent of those who ask for them, with more than 11 million doled out last year.

And he will unveil plans to end the role of GPs in the system. In future, those looking to be signed off could be asked to discuss their health with teams of ‘specialist work and health professionals’ who will assess what work they can do and what help they need to ‘bounce back to the workplace’.

‘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,’ he will say.

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

He 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 change is part of a wider package of welfare reforms being drawn up by Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride amid concerns about the soaring benefits bill.

Since the pandemic, total spending on working age disability and ill-health benefits has increased by almost two-thirds to £69 billion – more than the annual schools budget.

In a major speech 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

Mr Sunak will today welcome the fact that people feel able to ‘talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable’.

But he will say it would be wrong to ‘sit back and accept’ the surge in cases because addressing it is ‘too hard or too controversial or for fear of causing offence’.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘The college is supportive of a consultation to understand who is best placed to issue fit notes, given the workforce and workload pressures already faced by GPs.

‘It is vital that if others become involved in this process that the best interests of the patient remains the priority for anyone involved in assessing someone’s ability to work.’

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