What next for sick notes?

Can ‘fit notes’ really provide the answer to Britain’s absence burden?

Summary:

The recent report by Dame Carol Black on the health of Britain’s working-age population calls for a revamp of the sickness certification process. But can the proposed ‘fit notes’ provide a practical answer to problems perceived by UK employers, and will GPs buy into them?

SICK leave presents a sizeable problem, whichever way you look at it. In 2006, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimated that British workers took 175 million days off sick – or seven days each1. Health and Safety Executive figures show that workplace Ill health and injury accounted for 36 million lost working days in 2006–072. According to the latest…

Caroline White is a freelance medical journalist.

Author: White C

Tags absence carol black sicknotes

Occupational Health at Work June/July 2008 (vol. 05/1) pp13-16

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