Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Occupational HealthClinical governanceLatest NewsSickness absenceHR practice

New fit note unveiled by government

by Nic Paton 24 Jun 2009
by Nic Paton 24 Jun 2009

The government’s new fit note was unveiled in May, setting the stage for the much-maligned Med 3 sick­note to be replaced in GP surgeries from the spring of next year.

The design of the new note, which the government has been working on since last year, is being consulted on for 12 weeks.

Charlotte Bray, occupational health (OH) consultant at Aon Consulting, described the move as “long overdue”, but added that the role of OH practitioners would be critical in making it work, particularly in improving communication between employers, HR, managers and GPs.

“Occupational health expertise can help bridge the gap between the surgery and the office,” she said.

Dr Doug Wright, head of clinical governance at Norwich Union (now Aviva) Healthcare said GPs, employers, the government and health providers all had to be engaged in its design.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber added there was a danger the sicknote process could become just “a dialogue between the GP and the employer, and workers may feel they are being forced back to work”.

And the British Medical Association, which has long been sceptical about the idea, warned that GPs were not the right people to be making an assessment of what work-related tasks someone might be able to do. The note also risked leading to a “fundamental shift” in the relationship between GP and patient, it said.

But advocate professor Sayeed Khan, chief medical officer of manufacturers’ organisation EEF, was adamant the change would work for the better.

“A fit note recognises that for many conditions, a phased return to work is beneficial to both the company and the worker,” he said.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

A report by the organisation and health provider Unum in May, for example, found that nearly half of employers saw the old sicknote as a barrier to returning to work.

It also reported a 36% rise in long-term sickness absence from 2007 to 2008, despite absence overall decreasing, with delays in access to NHS treatments cited as one of the main headaches for many employers.

Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consultant editor at Personnel Today. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for Personnel Today and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

previous post
Lack of evidence on upper limb disorders hampers treatment
next post
Barclays to cut 188 jobs and close processing centre in Merseyside

You may also like

Airbus strikes postponed after new pay offer

1 Sep 2025

Free childcare expansion beset with recruitment challenges

1 Sep 2025

Business confidence grows to post-Budget peak

1 Sep 2025

Dental nurse pushed out by rude behaviour awarded...

1 Sep 2025

Warship deal with Norway secures 4,000 jobs

1 Sep 2025

Decision to sack man for Michael Jackson noises...

29 Aug 2025

P&O Ferries boss who steered 800 sackings steps...

29 Aug 2025

UK large companies’ succession planning is weak –...

29 Aug 2025

Gender bonus bias widens pay gap, says Brightmine

29 Aug 2025

Bankers learn of redundancy in email gaffe asking...

29 Aug 2025

  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise