Johnson Backs 'fit note' Plan
Ministers have backed plans for GPs to issue 'fit notes' instead of traditional sick notes.Health secretary Alan Johnson on Tuesday said he was accepting the recommendation of government adviser Dame Carol Black.
She said in a report in March that doctors should focus on what patients can do at work, rather than what they cannot.
Sick notes have been in place since 1948, but with trials replacing paper notes with electronic fit notes already underway, the new system could be in place by 2010.
Johnson said he wanted to help encourage people off work to return as "soon as possible".
"Helping people stay in work doesn't just have an economic imperative," he said.
"It has a moral and social one too. Poor health can prevent people fulfilling their potential, leaving them more likely to slip into poverty and social exclusion.
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