Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for an end to Britain's "sick note culture", claiming people are being "unnecessarily" written off work - and we want to hear your thoughts.
In a major speech on welfare reform, the PM has warned against "over-medicalising everyday challenges" and wants to shift instead to "what people can do with the right support in place, rather than what they can't do". This follows government concerns that Brits are being unnecessarily written off as sick and "parked on welfare".
The speech comes weeks after work and pensions secretary Mel Stride faced backlash for claiming there was a risk that the "normal ups and downs of human life" were being labelled as medical conditions, which were holding people back from working.
The Centre for Mental Health charity responded that the comments risked "belittling people’s struggles", while president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists branded them "disappointing". James Taylor, Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, questioned whether the announcement was "driven by bringing costs down rather than how we support disabled people".
He continued: "Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty amongst disabled households is growing. It's no wonder 8 in 10 (77 per cent) disabled people think politicians are out of touch with their lives."
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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak added: "They are attacking people who are too sick to work. If the government really cared about getting people back to work they would be fixing our crumbling public services and improving access to treatment. Britain deserves better than this cheap, cynical politics."
As part of his new welfare settlement for Britain, The PM is expected to pledge not to dismiss or downplay illness, but to call for a "more ambitious" approach for encouraging people back to work. In his speech, Mr Sunak is due to say: "There is a growing body of evidence that good work can actually improve mental and physical health. We need to be more ambitious about helping people back to work and more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life."
According to the government, NHS data has shown that 11 million fit notes were issued last year, and many were repeat fit notes "issued without any advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work". Latest figures show 2.8 million people are "economically inactive" due to long-term sickness, which Downing Street says is "driving an unsustainable increase in welfare spending".
A large number of those off work report suffering from depression, bad nerves or anxiety, although most have said these are secondary conditions rather than the main reason. The sky-high figures come as Britain emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, the current cost-of-living crisis, and with NHS waiting lists reaching unprecedented lengths.
Mr Sunak will also announce plans to look at GPs no longer being the first port of call in assessing someone’s ability to work, with the aim of creating specialist work and health professionals to assess people. Following the latest update on welfare reform, we want to know if YOU think Britain has a sick note culture. Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.
The Mirror will also be discussing the topic with you in the comments section below and you can join in! All you have to do is sign up, submit your comment, register your details and then you can take part.
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