GPs are to lose the power to hand out sick notes as Rishi Sunak launches crackdown and tells the millions of Brits who are signed off that 'life worries' are NO reason not to have a job: 'Ask what work you CAN do - not what you can't'

GPs are to be stripped of their power to sign people off work, under plans for a crackdown on Britain's 'sick note culture'.

In a major speech today, Rishi Sunak will warn that a surge in people signed off sick with mental health conditions is placing 'unsustainable' pressure on the welfare budget.

The Prime Minister will argue that it is time to be 'more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life' and will say that politicians must be bold enough to tackle the issue.

He will set out a vision of a 'new welfare settlement for Britain', in which people will be expected to work wherever possible, in return for assistance in tackling health conditions holding them back.

New figures this week revealed that the number of people considered 'economically inactive' after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8 million.

Around half are signed off with depression, anxiety and bad nerves.

Overall, 9.4 million people aged between 16 and 64 are economically inactive - meaning they are neither in work nor looking for work.

The Prime Minister will also highlight figures showing that GPs issue so-called 'fit notes' to 94 per cent of those who ask for them, with more than 11 million doled out last year.

And he will unveil plans to end the role of GPs in the system. It comes as questions have been raised over whether surgeries need the added workload amid a long backlog of patients in the wake of the pandemic.

In future, those looking to be signed off could be asked to discuss their health with teams of 'specialist work and health professionals' who will assess what work they can do and what help they need to 'bounce back to the workplace'.

The plans are likely to face questions over whether people without medical qualifications are well-placed to make decisions about someone's ability to work.

Some in government have argued that it could be a more humane approach, The Telegraph reports, with specialists potentially placing more of a focus on whether someone can stay in work and looking at options like work from home to facilitate it.

'We don't just need to change the sick note, we need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do – not what you can't,' Mr Sunak will say.

'Building on the pilots we've already started we're going to design a new system where people have easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support to help them back to work from the very first fit note conversation. 

'We're also going to test shifting the responsibility for assessment from GPs and giving it to specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone's ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so.' 

The PM will say there is a 'growing body of evidence that good work can actually improve mental and physical health'.

He will add: '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.'

The change is part of a wider package of welfare reforms being drawn up by Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride amid concerns about the soaring benefits bill.

He has suggested that the NHS is not doing enough to keep people in work, with his department now taking steps towards creating a national occupational health service, The Times reports.

Pilot schemes are said to be getting started offering job coaches, physiotherapy and mental health treatment to people at risk of dropping out of the workforce.

Since the pandemic, total spending on working age disability and ill-health benefits has increased by almost two-thirds to £69 billion – more than the annual schools budget.

Mr Sunak will today welcome the fact that people feel able to 'talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable'.

But, he will say, 'just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong merely to sit back and accept it because it's too hard; or too controversial; or for fear of causing offence.

'Doing so, would let down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help.'

Labour, as well as the Tories, has also called for the trend to be addressed.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'The college is supportive of a consultation to understand who is best placed to issue fit notes, given the workforce and workload pressures already faced by GPs.

'It is vital that if others become involved in this process that the best interests of the patient remains the priority for anyone involved in assessing someone's ability to work.'

Chief executive of mental health charity Mind, Dr Sarah Hughes, said in her response to the news: 'We are deeply disappointed that the prime minister's speech continues a trend in recent rhetoric which conjures up the image of a "mental health culture" that has "gone too far".

'This is harmful, inaccurate and contrary to the reality for people up and down the country. The truth is that mental health services are at breaking point following years of underinvestment, with many people getting increasingly unwell while they wait to receive support.'

She added: 'To imply that it is easy both to be signed off work and then to access benefits is deeply damaging. It is insulting to the 1.9 million people on a waiting list to get mental health support, and to the GPs whose expert judgment is being called into question.'