Sick notes for stress and anxiety soar with a third linked to mental health
ONE in three “sick notes” handed out by GPS is now for a mental health problem, highlighting soaring levels of anxiety across Britain, official figures show.
The new data – from the first such investigation across the NHS – reveal that in total, more than five million people a year are being signed off work for illness.
Mental health and behavioural conditions were the most common reason by far, making up 31 per cent of cases, with a 14 per cent rise in notes relating to anxiety and stress in one year.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists said the figures were “alarming” and urged employers to do more to help support staff struggling with common mental health problems such as depression.
The head of the NHS said mental health was now “front and centre” of the health service agenda. Musculoskeletal conditions – such as bad backs – were the second most common reason given for issuing the notes, the NHS data shows. Sick notes
have to be issued by GPS if an employee seeks more than seven days off work. But the new statistics show that one in five of those signed off for mental health problems was off for at least three months.
The report shows a rise in the numbers going off sick with anxiety and stress-related conditions, with 573,000 cases in 2016-17, compared with 503,000 the previous year. Last night Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, said: “These figures explain why the NHS is now putting mental health front and centre, in what was recently independently described as ‘the world’s most ambitious effort to treat depression, anxiety and other common mental illnesses’.” He said funding had risen by £1.4billion in the last three years, with an extra 120,000 people getting treatment. A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industry said: “Most firms will usually have policies in place – especially if they are large businesses – to help support their staff.”
A Government spokesman said: “We’re determined to go further, and these statistics will provide us with a better understanding of why people take sickness absence in different areas across the country.”