GPs say they would refer eligible patients to a new service to support employers and staff over sickness absence in a new report published by the DWP. Fit for Work will start later this year to provide an occupational health assessment and health and work advice to employees, employers and GPs to help people return to or stay in work after an illness. The study, ‘Exploring future GP referral to Fit for Work’, looks at how GPs might signpost their patients to the assessment part of the support. Its publication coincides with the renaming of Health and Work Service to Fit for Work to more accurately reflect the nature and impact of the service. Most GPs contacted for the study had a positive approach to the relationship between health and work.

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