Report to target ‘sick note’ culture

Measures to target Britain’s 100 billion pound ‘sick note’ culture are to be outlined today in a report by the national director for work and health.

Dame Carol Black has been looking at ways of getting more people into work and off sickness benefits.

Her report is expected to say that the cost of ill-health to the British economy is 103 billion pounds a year, including 63 billion pounds in lost productivity as a result of illness and disability.

Dame Carol’s proposals are set to include ‘well notes’, which outline the work people are able to do, rather than what they cannot do.

Health secretary Alan Johnson trailed this idea last month, saying that the current system of an employee being either too sick to work or completely healthy is unrealistic and inflexible.

“Incapacity benefit should not be a one-way street that starts in the GP’s surgery and stops at the dead-end of a lifetime on benefits,” he said.

“The evidence shows that far from being bad for health, work is generally good for people’s health.

“In fact staying in work or returning to work is often in a patient’s best interests. We want to explore what else GPs can do to change our sick-note culture into a well-note culture.”

Dame Carol’s report is also expected to include plans for services to detect health problems early to allow people to continue working.