BMJ  2004;328:461-462 (21 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7437.461-c

Letter

Sickness certification system in the United Kingdom

Department for Work and Pensions is trying to address challenges

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Hussey et al produce similar findings to other recent studies about general practitioners' advice on fitness for work,^1-3 but in his editor's choice Smith concludes that much of this work is philosophically untenable. General practitioners have been poorly trained in this important and undoubtedly difficult aspect of their day to day work, a challenge that the Department for Work and Pensions is anxious to address.

Smith also perpetuates the myth that general practitioners are acting solely as agents for the department, presumably in the same way that they are agents of the NHS when they issue a prescription?

Advice on fitness to work is an integral part of the clinical management of patients of working age. The obligation to record the advice on a statement (such as Form Med 3) does not detract from the doctor's overriding concern for the best clinical outcome for the patient. Good professional . . . [Full text of this article]

Department for Work and Pensions, London WC2N 6HT mansel.aylward@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

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