‘I wouldn’t be alive’: Anger at Sunak’s plan to strip GPs of sick note powers

Guardian readers have reacted with horror and sadness to Rishi Sunak’s plans to strip GPs of the power to dismiss people from work in favor of “work and health professionals”.

We received an unusually high number of responses to a call asking people about their experiences of being laid off from work and their views on Sunak’s proposals.

Charlotte, a 35-year-old senior radiographer for the NHS, said that when she heard Sunak’s speech she “felt a sense of panic”.

“The thought that I couldn’t be fired from work in the state I was in is terrifying. If my doctor hadn’t signed me off from work, or if it had been made more difficult, I wouldn’t be here. “I needed help urgently and I got it through my GP,” she said.

“Until someone has a mental health crisis, it’s hard to comprehend how scary it is and how you are literally unable to function, let alone perform your duties at work. Simply telling people to get on with it will put many more people out of work for long periods of time, and unfortunately suicide rates are likely to increase.”

A 43-year-old specialist education consultant, who asked to remain anonymous, also said she found Sunak’s proposals “terrifying”.

“If Sunak’s proposals had been in place when I broke down and GPs couldn’t sign people off, I would have lost my job years ago, wouldn’t have had a career and wouldn’t have been able to make the valuable contribution I am today. today we support children and young people with autism and communication needs in schools,” she said.

“The idea of ​​’other professionals’ assessing patients with a clear government agenda to refuse sick notes is really worrying for someone like me. I have never received benefits in my life, but if I lost my job because I was ill and could not prove this to my employer, I could become unemployed and need benefits for the first time.”

Others said the government had made it harder to stay in work or return quickly after a mental health episode by cutting back on services.

“The government has left Britain’s mental health system at its knees, resulting in many more people becoming mentally ill than necessary,” said Elio Taylor-Conway, 31, a former vet. . before he became too sick to work. “If I had had more obstacles to quit my job and be forced to continue, I am confident that I would not be alive today.”

Despite being suicidal, Taylor-Conway’s GP told him his symptoms were not severe enough to be accepted by the secondary mental health team. A two-week sick note had to be repeated until, eight months after first signing off, he was finally diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.

“At that point I had been in and out of the hospital and I actually felt sicker than when I started,” he said. “I no longer work and have to apply for benefits.”

A 37-year-old teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, had a similar experience: “The symptoms I experienced were debilitating, all-consuming and frightening, but I wouldn’t have gotten to this point if NHS mental health care had been accessible when was necessary. ,” he said. “I can’t imagine how much worse this would have been if my livelihood had also been threatened (by a third party’s refusal to give me a sick note).”

Jay Roberts, a 47-year-old Liverpudlian, said the process of getting a job was difficult enough. “When you’re at your lowest, it’s hard to find the energy to go to a GP to get a sick note and make an appointment,” he said. “The earliest appointments are usually weeks in the future and you have to persevere to get an urgent appointment, something that can be challenging if you’re having a bad episode.”

Roberts also took issue with Sunak’s claim that people with mental health problems should remain in work or return quickly. “Work has been a very toxic experience for me,” he said. “It is laughable to suggest it is a panacea for mental health problems. The Tories are simply targeting the most vulnerable to score political points.”

Sunak’s move to give specialists responsibility for issuing health certificates as part of a wider aim to make obtaining sick notes more difficult has been criticized as “hostile rhetoric” by the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association.

Readers also criticized the idea. “I was so sick I couldn’t see the extent of it, but my GP could and signed me off on the spot,” said a 54-year-old council worker who asked to remain anonymous. “If they hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t be alive today. If that option had been removed and placed in the hands of evaluators from whom I had to ask for a note, I would not have had the space and time to improve.”

An anonymous teacher in the northwest of England agreed. “All the health workers who supported me literally had to convince me not to go to work. Like many in our profession, we want to do the right thing and feel guilty when we feel like we’re letting the kids down, so we press on and eventually break. It is that culture that needs to be sorted. Not the sick note culture that our privileged Prime Minister talks about.”