GPs ‘should stop signing off long-term absentees’

GPs may lose the right to issue sick notes for patients on long-term leave following the publication of a new government-backed review.

Under the recommendations in the report, family doctors would still be able to sign people off work for up to four weeks, but an independent panel would need to investigate in cases where people are away from their jobs for longer periods.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), around 300,000 people per year take long-term sickness leave from their job.

Working-age ill health costs the government an annual sum of more than 60 billion pounds in lost tax revenue, benefit expenditure and NHS costs, while the average worker takes approximately six days off sick every year.

A spokesman from the DWP said: "The economy loses 15 billion pounds in economic output each year due to sickness absence and we cannot continue to foot this bill."

However, the impact of unnecessary inactivity on people's lives – including the damage to their health, family and community – is even more important, the spokesman added.