GPs could lose the right to sign people off sick under controversial new plans being touted by the government.
Rishi Sunak is set to call for an end to the “sick note culture” and warn against “over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life” in a major speech on welfare reform.
The Prime Minister will say the focus must shift to what work people might be able to do, amid Government concerns some are being unnecessarily written off as sick and “parked on welfare”.
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.
But in a move that has sparked controversy, the government could put an end to GPs being allowed to sign patients off sick, with the responsibility shifting to specialist work and health professionals instead.
Sunak 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.”
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.