BMJ  2008;336:508 (1 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39503.459572.59

Views & Reviews

Why the health secretary’s "well note" is not so swell

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

Everyone agrees that the United Kingdom’s state benefit system is in a mess. The cost to the taxpayer has escalated out of control, and the annual bill is now in excess of £13bn (17bn; $26bn). The public are outraged by stories of malingering and inappropriate claims, and the government has appointed Carol Black, as national director for health and work, to investigate alternatives to the current flawed system.

Most GPs would like to be removed from their current central role in signing patients off work—not because we are lazy, but because we recognise that it is impossible to be the patient’s advocate on health matters at the same time as being responsible for deciding whether they are entitled to incapacity benefit. Furthermore, most of us have no experience of occupational health and really know little more about our patients’ work environments than anyone else. Instead of policing the system . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Pilot scheme will ask GPs to give more detail in sickness certificates

Adrian O’Dowd
BMJ 2008 336: 468. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Polyclinics open till 10 pm proposed for London

Michael Day
BMJ 2007 335: 61. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Patients, doctors, and sickness benefit

Björn Nilsson and Iona Heath
BMJ 2003 327: 1057. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Sick notes or well notes should be a GPs responsibility

Anthony N Williams
bmj.com, 2 Apr 2008 [Full text]