Government promises shift from 'sick note' to 'well-note'

According to the CBI, 175 million working days are lost to ill health every year, while the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that 36 million of these days are lost because of occupational ill health, with a total cost of up to £13 billion a year.

Back pain alone costs employers £600 million a year, with sufferers of persistent back problems taking on average 17 days off sick per year. Only half of those with back problems who are signed off for six months or more return to work. Only a quarter of those signed off for a year or more will return.

As part of a plan to tackle the cost of incapacity benefit in the UK, and to improve what he called "work-health balance", Mr Johnson today set out three "key steps" for employers and Government.

In a speech at the British Heart Foundation, he said: "Firstly, employers should take steps to promote health and well-being in the workplace. Secondly, Government must work with employers to improve how it identifies potential health risks - in particular around stress and mental health - and address these risks.

"Thirdly, Government must do more to help those who able to work, but have been prevented from doing so by health reasons, to get back into the workplace."

Professor Sayeed Khan, the chief medical adviser to manufacturers' group the EEF, welcomed Mr Johnson's speech. "I think there is a need to look for something different and trialling a new sick note is worthwhile because nobody likes the current system," he said.

"It's much better for the patient's health to be at work doing something and keeping in touch. It's much better for the employer to know what is going on and what they can do to help."

Cooperation needed

However, the British Medical Association was less impressed. Dr Peter Holden, a lead negotiator for the BMA's GP committee, said: "GPs are often placed in a difficult position between their patients and the system when issuing sick notes in the early stages of illness.

"Confirming that a patient is unwell is very different from making a judgment on whether someone is well enough to do their job. This may be determined by a host of other non-medical factors concerning the equipment they are using or the physical environment in which they work."

He added: "Employers should be encouraged to provide staff with access to proper occupational health services that will help them get back to work."

Gil Baldwin, managing director of Norwich Union Healthcare, commented: "For these policies to have an impact the communication between employers and GPs must be improved. Our figures show that there is confusion around GPs current role in workplace health.

"Only 6% of GPs think employers are doing enough to help rehabilitate their staff to work sooner. But employers believe that GPs are not playing an effective role as they could with the majority believing that GPs are too quick to sign sick notes. This gap must be bridged to make this policy a success and get people back to work."