GPs working in the NHS routinely write sick leaves for patients they have not seen, doctors claimed.
GPs admit that “95 per cent” of time off requests are accepted following an email request without any further assessment.
They also admit that sick leave is “rarely” denied.
Some claim doctors are “too scared to refuse” discharges because they are worried patients will become aggressive or write a negative review of the GP’s practice on social media.
“We don’t want to risk a confrontation,” said a GP in the north of England. ‘Often we don’t know the patient. We simply see the request in our inbox and approve it.’
In a major speech today, Rishi Sunak will warn that a rise in the number of people signed off due to mental illness is putting “unsustainable” pressure on the welfare budget.
The revelation comes after Rishi Sunak today announced plans to strip GPs of their power to sack people from work.
The Prime Minister described the move as an effort to tackle the “sick note culture” in the UK, which was causing a “spiraling” welfare bill due to record numbers of people unemployed due to illness.
Latest figures suggest 2.8 million Britons are “economically inactive” due to health problems. About half end up with depression, anxiety and nerves.
Sunak added that it was time to be “more honest about the risk of over-medicalising life’s everyday challenges and concerns”.
Labor criticized the plan, arguing that the Government had “run out of ideas”. Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer accused Sunak of “blaming people who are sick”.
However, many GPs welcomed the change, which would see sick leave – known in the NHS as adjustment notes – become the responsibility of “specialist work and healthcare professional” teams.
“There is a need to rethink how we properly assess chronic or long-term illnesses,” said Professor Dame Clare Gerada, former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
‘We need to see if there are other ways to support people other than signing a waiver.
‘It’s very difficult to say no. General practice is in free fall. We have fewer family doctors, fewer specialists and we care for too many patients.
‘We cannot be expected to evaluate them all. It doesn’t mean we don’t care, because we do. But we may simply not have time to care for all the people who are sick.’
A GP source said many GPs were “delighted” with the move.
“Adjustment notes create conflicts between GPs and their patients,” the source added.
‘Doctors are often too afraid to refuse to discharge patients because they fear they will become angry.
‘This could lead to the patient turning up at the surgery and acting aggressively towards staff or leaving a bad review online which damages your reputation.
‘Most days I get about four or five requests for adjustment notes. I will only see the patient if he has developed a new condition, which almost never happens because most people who request a note have long-standing problems, such as pain or anxiety.
‘I would say that about 95 per cent of the fitting notes I deal with are done without seeing the patient. And I rarely deny them. It’s not worth stressing.”
The Royal College of General Practitioners has been contacted for comment.