Mental health accounts for nearly one-in-three known fit notes

New figures, released by NHS Digital, have shown that mental health and behavioural conditions have accounted for 31 per cent of all fit notes where the diagnosis was known.

Analysing information from GP practices over the period between December 2014 and March 2017, this has been noted as the most common known reason for issuing a fit note.

A fit note is issued by a doctor to provide evidence of the advice they have given about their fitness for work, recording details of the functional effects of their patient's condition so the patient and their employer can consider ways to help them return to work.

Information from more than 12 million fit notes was analysed, of which around 5.8 million had a known diagnosis. The analysis reveals that almost 1.8 million fit notes were issued where the diagnosis was known to be mental health and behavioural conditions. In contrast, there were around 1.1 million fit notes known to relate to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, which was the second most common known reason for which a fit note was issued.

The number of fit notes known to have been written for anxiety and stress related conditions increased by 14 per cent from 503,000 to 573,000 between 2015-16 and 2016-17.