The People Bulletin

Long term sickness remains an ongoing problem, according to a sickness absence study by EEF, the manufacturing organisation and insurance product provider Unum. The research revealed:

• 36% of employers report an increase in long-term sickness absence from 2007 to 2008;
• Manufacturers need faster access to NHS treatments to help improve these levels; and
• 45% of employers still view the sick note as a barrier to returning to work – the time is right for the new ‘fit note’.

On 25 November 2008 the government announced an overhaul of the ill health at work reporting system in a bid to cut the £100 billion sickness is currently costing the UK’s beleaguered economy. The package, which is to cost around £45 million over three years, is designed to support disabled people or those who became ill, to return to or stay in work by helping them manage their condition. This was in response to Dame Carol Black’s analysis of the UK’s working age population, published in March 2008: Working for a healthier tomorrow.

Professor Sayeed Khan, EEF’s chief medical adviser commented that reducing long-term absence does mean that ‘employers need faster access to NHS treatments and secondary care in order to have a chance of significantly improving absence levels.’

The new system means that GPs will need to identify tasks that workers can do in a ‘fit note’ rather than the traditional 60 year-old sick note that focuses on what they are not able to do. This would be done electronically and if trials are successful, the new system is expected to be in place by 2010. The operational impact of putting these communication channels in place between GPs, patients and employers are not yet clear.

GP leaders have broadly backed the need for a review of the sick note system, but expressed concern about how the system will work. Commenting in Pulse magazine last in January 2009, General Practitioner Committee chair Dr Laurence Buckman stressed the importance of ensuring that GPs ‘continue to act as the patient’s advocate, and don’t end up policing the system for the Department for Work and Pensions.’

www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/Government-Response/