Helen Salisbury , GP Oxford helen.salisbury{at}phc.ox.ac.ukFollow Helen on Twitter: @HelenRSalisburyBack in 2010, in a move reminiscent of George Orwell’s Newspeak, sick notes were renamed “fit notes.”12 These are forms for employers or benefits agencies, generated by GPs (and sometimes hospitals) to verify that a patient is currently not well enough to work. The old concept of convalescence—giving your body enough time to recover properly from illness—has faded from popular consciousness, and these days employers and employees often seem keen to jump straight back into full time work. We still don’t have a workforce plan, but it’s abundantly clear that we’re not training enough doctors and nurses. I’d like to be reassured that this is high on our government’s agenda. Footnotes Competing interests: See www.bmj.com/about-bmj/freelance-contributorsProvenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.

Source: The Times November 15, 2022 10:37 UTC