Few GPs ever refuse a mental health sick note

Few GPs ever refuse a mental health sick note

In response to a BBC questionnaire, 540 of 752 GPs said they had never denied a sick note relating to mental health. 162 said they’d refused at least one (and 50 preferred not to say).

GPs highlighted how they didn’t believe they should have to “police the sick note system” — and how there were cases of patients becoming aggressive if a sick note for mental ill-health wasn’t issued.

Sick note culture

Last year, more than 956,000 sick notes were issued giving the specific reason of mental illness. But sick notes don’t need to include a reason, and another 72% didn’t.

The rapid growth in the issuing of sick notes for mental ill-health is central to the wider concerns in government at the spiralling cost of benefits provision.

A particular concern is around the attitude of younger adults to the workplace — supported by evidence from GPs in the BBC survey. One GP commented: “We sign off legions of young patients with anxiety and depression who are quite clearly not ill.”

Back to employers

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “If GPs aren’t able to play a role in assessing mental health — it’s a reasonable point that it’s difficult for them to both offer support, be an advocate of patients, and also be a judge — then the responsibility appears to be drifting towards employers.

“A government pilot of a ‘stay in/return to work’ scheme is already running with 60 businesses, including Jaguar Land Rover, mainly focused on preventative health, exercise classes, health checks and access to counselling — and is a signal of things to come.

“But there’s a bigger question here, a serious one for the sector and employers in general, of whether a professional service like an EAP can be used to assess the extent of mental ill-health and the necessity for specific adaptations in terms of keeping people in work.”