NHS Confederation responds to Prime Minister's plans to end 'sick note culture'

Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement to end Britain’s “sick note culture”,  Ruth Rankine, director of the NHS Confederation’s primary care network said: 

“Health leaders are clear that a well-funded NHS not only supports people’s health and wellbeing, but it is also vital to a healthy economy. They know they have a critical role to play in ensuring that people living with long-term conditions and poor health can find and remain in good quality employment. 

“However, staff across the NHS are seeing referrals for treatment and support on the rise. We welcome any initiative that could help to reduce demand on general practice and our members have long advocated for a review of the fit note process which could be more effectively managed through trained professionals that support people back into work. 

“But the deeper problem isn’t the system - it’s that people are sicker than they were, and they have more complex healthcare needs. This is why it is vital the government starts treating investment in the NHS as an explicit tool of economic development and also, that the Prime Minister should lead a national mission for health improvement to shift the focus from simply treating illness to promoting health and wellbeing.”