Millions of sick notes are being doled out without patients having to see a GP or nurse in person, according to a damning Government study.
Laying bare the scale of Britain’s sick note culture, the report reveals that 56 per cent of applicants are given them after a chat on the phone (37 per cent), applying online (13 per cent) or following a virtual consultation (6 per cent).
Nearly 11 million ‘fit notes’, which assess an individual’s ability to work, were issued in England in the 12 months to June last year, suggesting as many as 6.1 million were handed out without seeing a GP or nurse in person.
The bombshell study also reveals that more than a third (39 per cent) of recipients said it is easy to get one even ‘when not really needed’.
Health workers freely admitted to researchers that they dole them out when it was not medically justified or without challenging patients, saying they were often afraid of a backlash amid growing numbers of people complaining of mental health problems.
Others said that the typical ten-minute appointment was not long enough for assessing patients or that rejecting an application can create ‘hours’ more paperwork if the patient complains.
The report last night piled pressure on Labour to overhaul the system to tackle the sick note epidemic.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak laid out plans to overhaul the regime last April, saying that claiming sickness and then benefits had become a ‘lifestyle choice’ for some amid a spiralling welfare bill.
The plan included stripping GPs of their power to sign people off work. But the general election was called and the proposals have not been taken up by Labour.
The study, commissioned by the work and pensions and health departments and quietly slipped out this week amid the backlash over Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, involved focus groups and one-to-one interviews with 84 GPs and nurses, 43 patients and 28 employers.
It found the main frustration of health workers was patients apparently ‘playing the system’, with many feeling they were ‘entitled’ to a fit note ‘even when there was no medical justification for it’.
Researchers noted a ‘very consistent perception that it was easy for someone to obtain a fit note inappropriately’, with ‘almost all’ health workers believing they ‘could be issued where it is not necessarily appropriate’.
One nurse told researchers: ‘It takes two minutes to sign a sick note, and 20 minutes to explain to someone why they shouldn’t have a sick note, so you can see why they’re easily disseminated to patients.’
Some health workers said they thought most ‘inappropriate’ fit notes likely related to people claiming mental health issues.
One GP said: ‘If somebody comes and says they’re, you know, very, very stressed, or low in mood and depressed, and they want time off work, I don’t really question that, I will give them a sick note for that.’
Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s difficult to read this report and not come to the conclusion that the fit note system is not fit for purpose. It’s clear medical professionals are often acting as little more than rubber stampers.
‘Ministers need to make the process much stricter to ensure that only those who are genuinely ill can get signed off.’
The work and pensions and health departments were contacted for comment.
published by David Churchill – Daily Mail – 4 April 2025
