More than 200,000 'sick notes' issued in Oldham since 2020

Data collated by NHS England has shown the extent of authorised absence forms in Oldham, between January 2020 and December 2023.

Last year, 65,668 such notes were handed out to patients at the borough's 34 medical centres - a 58 per cent rise on 2020.

Three months into 2020 the pandemic saw the country go into lockdown, so figures may be distorted, with only 41,387 notes issued.

There has still been a year-on-year increase in the number of forms being signed off, with 50,476 in 2021, 60,801 in 2022, and of course 65,668 in 2023.

It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to crackdown on the country's so-called ‘sick note culture’ as part of his Government’s welfare reforms earlier this month.

He said: “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.  

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak giving his speech in central London on welfare reform (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

“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 Prime Minister’s plans and statement have drawn condemnation – with charity Scope saying the move feels “like a full-on assault on disabled people” which could leave some “destitute”.

Mr Sunak said there will be a consultation on proposed changes to a “more objective and rigorous approach” to the benefits system.

He suggested greater medical evidence could be required to justify a personal independence payments (PIP) claim, and that some people with mental health conditions may be offered talking therapies or respite care rather than cash transfers.

Meanwhile, the British Medical Association criticised the PM for his “hostile rhetoric on sicknote culture.” 

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairwoman of GPC England, the BMA’s GP committee, said: “With a waiting list of 7.5 million – not including for mental health problems – delays to diagnostics, and resulting pressures on GP practices, patients cannot get the treatment they need to be able to return to work.

“So rather than pushing a hostile rhetoric on ‘sicknote culture’, perhaps the Prime Minister should focus on removing what is stopping patients from receiving the physical and mental healthcare they need, which in turn prevents them from going back to work.”

A trend over the last four years in Oldham shows that there is a rise in absence forms over March and again in October and November before dropping in December - when winter officially starts.

While there have been as many as 218,332 sick notes issued, a spike was seen in January 2021 as 8,368 handed out - one of the many months the country went into lockdown.

The Statement of Fitness for Work (the Med3 form or 'fit note') was introduced in April 2010 across England, Wales and Scotland.

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