Publication, Part of Fit Notes Issued by GP Practices
Fit Notes Issued by GP Practices, England, December 2024
Official statistics
Issue with the fit note episode data from October to December 2024
An issue with the quality of data relating to episodes of sickness for Fit Notes has been identified for the period from October to December 2024. We have removed these data from this publication and will reinstate them when they have been corrected
11 April 2025 11:52 AM
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 healthcare professionals 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 healthcare professional assesses that the patient’s health affects their fitness for work. The healthcare professional 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 general practice's 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, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and pharmacists following an assessment of their fitness for work. While they can be written by hand, most fit notes provided by general practice are now computer-generated.
This quarterly statistical publication is produced by NHS England 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 for a given period.
This is a ‘cumulative’ data collection. Weekly data collected will continue to be added to existing data. All data for all reporting periods is updated in each quarterly publication. From April 2019 all publications will contain data from practices who have TPP as their system supplier (which was not previously available), and accounts for one third of practices in England, consequently publications from this date may not be comparable to previous publications.
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 'Unallocated' but are included in the England total.
NHS England will publish data on a quarterly basis in October, January, April and July.
Key Facts
Increase in fit notes
2,705,283 fit notes were issued in Q3 2024-25, an increase of 78,439 ( 2.8%) compared to Q3 2023-24 (2,783,722).
Fit notes for 5 weeks or longer
1,155,600 (42.7%) fit notes were for 5 weeks or longer in Q3 2024-25 compared to 1,141,745 (41.0%) in Q3 2023-24.
|
Source: Fit note eMED3 data set, NHS England |
Resources
Last edited: 11 April 2025 11:54 am