Public Servant Lifestyle

Doctors in the UK get 22 million requests for sick-notes every year – and they estimate that nine million of these are suspect, according to a new report.

Norwich Union Healthcare’s latest Health of the Nation Index survey has found that doctors think almost a quarter of the 577 requests for sick-notes they each get yearly are questionable, at best - and nearly a fifth of them are invalid. According to the survey results nearly three million workers across the country admit they’d consider asking their GP for a bogus sick-note - with twice as many men than women saying they’d cheat the system.

Over a fifth of the GP panel interviewed as part of the survey say that as many as 20% of their patients are unable to work due to health reasons. But many GPs think that the numbers of people on sick-leave could be reduced if it wasn’t for delays in treatment, and if organisations arranged to have their employee back to work in a different capacity.

Change Role

Dr Ann Robinson, one of the GPs who took part in the Norwich Union Healthcare research says: “GPs want to treat genuinely ill patients and don't want to act as policemen, identifying those who are claiming bogus sick notes. Employers need to be more flexible with their workforce and hospital services need to provide fast track diagnostic and treatment centres so people can get back to work as quickly as possible. It's well known that the longer you're off work, the harder it is to get back.”

And four in 10 of the GP panel, interviewed by independent medical research specialists Dr Foster for Norwich Union Healthcare, think more than a third of their patients who are unable to work, could actually work a few hours a day, or in a slightly different role, but that employers just aren’t encouraging them to return to work.

The findings are part of Norwich Union Healthcare’s third Health of the Nation Index, now entering its second year, which looks at GPs’ own views of the health service.

The Index also reveals that:

Patients in Scotland outdo the rest of the country by 2:1 – Scottish GPs receive 1,013 requests for sick-notes a year on average

Doctors in East Anglia receive the least requests in the UK, at 286 per year

Over-eating is seen as the most damaging dietary habit affecting patients’ health

The GP panel thinks better public education about the impact of poor diet on health would be most effective in reducing this impact.

Nearly half (48%) of GPs say at least a third of their time is spent on social, rather than medical issues – 70% of those questioned don’t think the profession is adequately equipped to deal with these.

Dr Doug Wright, clinical development manager at Norwich Union Healthcare adds: “One of the main themes of the report is how much time doctors devote to matters other than medical ones in their surgery, and that they’re not feeling adequately equipped to deal with these issues.

"Their view is that if patients were to educate themselves more about their condition, as well as the other forms of support available, this could not only reduce the numbers attending their surgery, but will actually benefit patients’ health, long-term. And of course, the added benefit of this is that GPs will be free to spend more time with patients who genuinely need their medical attention."

Ben Willmott, the Employee Relations Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), following the release of new research commented: "Our research shows that tackling absence management has become one of the biggest priorities for employers. But to be effective, employers must ensure they have progressive people management policies in place, which are less likely to lead employees to wake up and think 'I don't feel like going to work today'. This means ensuring that staff are treated fairly at work, have achievable targets and the support, training and recognition to help them achieve these targets."

Key Role

Willmott continues, "But GPs also have a key role to play. It is in their interests to issue sick notes in a responsible manner by making every effort to establish if their patient has a genuine health problem that prevents them from attending work. If GPs give sick notes without good reason and without much thought, then it is not surprising that they find themselves in demand."

The most recent absence survey from the CIPD showed that absence levels were cut by a tenth in 2003 - down from ten days per year to nine on average.

Research amongst workers also identified the top five reasons they’d give to get a sick note:

1. Embarrassment (i.e. a personal crisis they couldn’t tell their employer about)
2. Workplace is too stressful
3. Holiday request refused or didn’t want to use their holiday entitlement
4. Fatigue
5. Gave me a legitimate excuse to skive off work

Roger Taylor, research director at Dr Foster said: “More work is needed to understand how social support could help people cope better with the stresses of life, improve their health and lifestyle and reduce unnecessary burdens on the health service".

The most frequent causes for sick-note requests, in descending order, are:

Back pain

Depression

Work-place stress

Other stress related problems

Flu

The CIPD report Employee Absence 2003: A survey of management policy and practice sets out the findings of the fourth annual survey in this area by the CIPD. Some 1,330 organisations responded to the postal questionnaire sent out to people management professionals in February 2003. Organisations from across both the private and public sectors were represented in the sample.

Calculations on the number of ‘bogus’ sick note requests is based on a total of 38,000 GPs in the UK who receive an average of 577 requests for sick notes every year. Of these, 41% are considered to be questionable or invalid. Full details of the Health of the Nation Index report can be accessed at: www.healthofthenation.com.

More information available in Job Centre