Fewer GP sick notes, more 'good work': A new government focus?

“Success rests on collaboration with employers, not on GPs alone”

clock • 5 min read

Vanessa Sallows, claims & governance director at Legal & General Group Protection, responds to yesterday’s national news reports that the government is believed to be considering changing advice to GPs; to sign fewer people off sick and to consider work as part of recovery.

According to reports yesterday in the national press the government is believed to be considering advising GPs to sign fewer sick people off work in a bid to help boost the economy. These reports come on the back of concerns voiced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the last Autumn statement, about the levels of economic inactivity amongst the UK working population. As part of this, he expressed concerns about the number of people signed off work with long-term conditions. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 2.5 million people were signed off long-term sick last...

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