Mersey Reporter - #Merseybites #News

DAYS after the International Monetary Fund said that the UK was on course to be the only major economy to shrink this year, all eyes will be on this year's Spring Budget, on 15 March 2023. But, many will also be looking at it for other reasons, as we are told that a new approach to how GPs decide whether people are too sick to work is being looked at by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. If true, we might just see the Government putting pressure GPs into sending people who are sick back to work!

Currently, the UK is seeing a massive rise in the number of people off work with long-term sickness, in the wake of the Covid19 Pandemic, according to The Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) who have been told to find ways to reverse the trend. Yet, the Office for National Statistics, which has just released the latest figures, is reporting that those who have been out of work due to illness, since the Pandemic, are already starting to return back to employment.

Already Universal Credit rules are seeing small business owners, who are being forced to use the benefits system when still providing employees with employment. The changes are now seeing many small business owners being told to give up, by Government paid work coaches, or lose support, putting them into a no-win scenario. Often leading to small businesses being forced to close and even more put on the job market.

Now, this ill-thought-out system could be extended to people who are sick. Many people are saying that the decisions over how to manage health and any long-term sickness should only be between a patient and their GP, and not a way to boost the economy. Yet, Jeremy Hunt, who is now the Chancellor, has said that at the heart of his Budget, he will be focused on getting people off out-of-work benefits and into employment.

Currently, a petition is being hosted on:- 38Degrees.Org.UK, called:- "Don’t force sick people back to work" which has amassed over:- 25,000 signatures.

Do you think the Government should plan to pressure GPs into writing fewer sick notes for people who struggle with long-term sickness? What are your thoughts on this very emotive subject?

Let us know your thoughts on this news topic... Email our Newsroom at:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com or send us a message on:- Facebook or Twitter.

Liverpool (Gladstone)

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