Summary
The Statement of Fitness for Work (the Med3 form or 'fit note') was introduced in April 2010 across England, Wales and Scotland. It enables doctors to give advice to their patients about the impact of their health condition on their fitness for work and is used to provide medical evidence for employers or to support a claim to health-related benefits through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
A fit note is issued after the first seven days of sickness absence (when patients can self-certify) if the doctor assesses that the patient’s health affects their fitness for work. The doctor can decide the patient is 'unfit for work' or 'may be fit for work subject to the following advice...' with accompanying notes on suggested adjustments or adaptations to the job role or workplace.
In 2012, DWP funded a project to provide GPs with the ability to produce computer-generated fit notes (eMed3) and this included the capability to collect the aggregated data generated.
Fit notes are issued to patients by doctors following an assessment of their fitness for work. While they can be written by hand, most fit notes provided by a GP are now computer-generated.
This quarterly statistical publication is produced by NHS Digital in collaboration with The Work and Health Unit, jointly sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health. It presents data on electronic fit notes issued in general practices in England and covers the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2018.
On 1 April 2018 there were several changes to NHS geographies details of which can be found under Related Links below.
All GP practices are mapped using current NHS geographies and recent changes may have resulted in a small number of practices not being mapped historically. These are shown as 'Not allocated' but are included in the England total.
NHS Digital will publish these data on a quarterly basis in October, January, April and July.
Key Facts
England 2017-18
• 1 fit note per 47 patients aged 18-65 years, were issued by GPs on average each month in the last 3 years* .
• 6.4% of fit notes reported were classified as ‘may be fit for work’, with 4 out of 5 of these recommending an adaptation in working hours or duties.
• 32.3% of fit notes with a known diagnosis were for mental and behavioural disorders in 2017-18 compared to 31.3% in 2016-17.
• 56.4% of episodes** comprise 1 fit note whilst 8.1% of episodes comprise 5 or more fit notes in 2017-18. In 2016-17 this was 58.4% for 1 fit note and 6.7% for 5 or more fit notes.
• 24.1% of mental and behavioural episodes were for more than 12 weeks, compared to 3.2% for diseases of the respiratory system in 2017-18. Diseases of the respiratory system for 1 to 4 weeks had the largest proportion of fit notes (66.5).
- Excluding February 2018 due to data quality issues for more information see data quality in Tables.
** An episode is the same period of sickness covered by one or more fit notes.
Last edited: 11 July 2022 5:49 pm