BRITISH DOCTORS should not be allowed to sign sick notes for people out of work for long periods, according to a major report to be published shortly which argues the decision should be left to a government agency.
The proposal comes as the British government pushes to cut the cost of sick pay, which the Confederation of British Industry estimates at £17 billion a year. The Department of Work and Pensions argues that ill-health among workers actually costs the taxpayer £60 billion a year.
The recommendations of the Independent Review on Sickness Absence do not have to be accepted by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, but the support for them can be judged by the fact that two government ministers will attend the launch of the document.
The still-unpublished report, which is at final drafting, argues that GPs cannot judge the work that a patient can do, while they are under pressure to sign sick notes presented to them.
Instead, the final decision should be made by a government agency.
More efforts should be made to get people back into work, even if they have to move into less arduous positions, while more frequent official checks should be made on those claiming sickness benefit, the report, seen by Bloomberg, argues.
It also recommends that employers should qualify for tax breaks to encourage them to find roles for lower-paid staff who have been out on sick leave.
In Ireland, the Minister for Social Protection has recently proposed that employers should pay the first four weeks of sick pay to their staff since this would encourage them to monitor absenteeism rates.
Joan Burton said the cost to the State of paying illness benefit – which is now claimed by 80,000 on any given day – had risen from €330 million to €900 million over the last decade.