Britons may soon use an app to take time off work as part of the government’s plans to overhaul the sick leave system.
The move, part of a wider plan to end the “sick note culture” in the UK, would allow people with common infections such as the flu to automatically be granted time off after declaring their own symptoms.
It would also eliminate the need to consult a doctor.
Britons battling more complex or longer-lasting illnesses would receive more intensive support, ministers’ proposed plans suggest.
It comes as Rishi Sunak vowed last week to strip GPs of their power to fire Britons from work.
The move, part of a wider plan to end the “sick note culture” in the UK, would allow people with common infections such as the flu to automatically be granted time off after declaring their own symptoms. Rishi Sunak vowed last week to strip GPs of his power to fire Britons from work.
Instead, the change would see the letters, known in the NHS as “fit notes”, become the responsibility of “specialist jobs and healthcare professional teams”, he said.
Under the new system, a “grading service” would “support people seeking a suitable grade on the path that best suits their individual health and employment needs”, according to a call for evidence published by the government.
However, automatic discharges are likely to be limited to one-off illnesses to prevent the British from misusing the system. The times reported.
The system will also be tested first as a pilot scheme.
“If I get the flu and only need seven days off work and then come back, do I really need to see a doctor for that?” said a government source.
Another source added that the algorithm was just one of the ideas tested to “find ways to make triage more efficient so that GP time is protected”, comparing it to the existing NHS 111 symptom checker.
Last week, the Prime Minister claimed benefits have become a “lifestyle choice” for some, leading to a “spiral” of the welfare bill.
Latest figures suggest 2.8 million Britons are “economically inactive” due to health problems. About half end up with depression, anxiety and nerves.
Official forecasts also show that spending on ill health through the Personal Independence Payments (PIP) scheme will soar to £33bn by 2029, up from just under 19 £1 billion last year.
Mr Sunak argued that “part of the problem is that it may not be reasonable to ask GPs, who are very busy at the moment, to assess whether their own patients are fit to work”.
He added: “Too often, this puts them in an impossible situation where they know that refusing to fire someone will damage that precious relationship with their patient.”
Last week, experts slammed two online companies selling same-day sick notes for as little as £25, for offering a service that “threatens to become a mockery of the entire system”. Home2Lab, one of the companies, apparently based in North London, offers a workplace medical certificate for as little as £44 for a “regular application”.
Home2Lab stated that all doctors are registered with the General Medical Council, the body responsible for regulating doctors. Under the regulator’s professional standards, doctors must always provide accurate information that is not false or misleading. This means “taking reasonable steps” to ensure that information is never deliberately omitted and that the risk of harm is not minimized or trivialized.
MailOnline also discovered Updoc UK, which was advertising “sick notes for work” from just £24.95. The letter, “accepted by both small and large employers”, provides “an official confirmation of his illness guaranteeing that he will receive sick leave”.
Labor criticized the plan, arguing that the Government had “run out of ideas”. Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer also accused Sunak of “blaming people who are sick”.
However, some GPs welcomed the change, with some arguing that doctors are “often too afraid to refuse to discharge patients because they fear they will become angry”.
It comes as experts last week criticized two online companies selling same-day sick notes for as little as £25, for offering a service that “threatens to make a mockery of the entire system”.
MailOnline found that the letters, which allowed clients to get off work by UK-regulated doctors, were promised “without the need for an appointment”.
Customers simply fill out a form, but some ask them to submit a 30-second video describing their illness.
This newspaper also put its services to the test: a journalist was able to buy sick leave from both companies in less than two hours.
With the seal of a doctor and a pharmacist respectively, they both fired him from work for a month without speaking once to a medical professional.