More than 200 signed off work every day in Shropshire and Telford

Between July 2017 and June this year, more than 79,000 of what were once called sick notes were signed by doctors in the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin boroughs.

Of these, more than 13,000 were for mental health issues and more than 6,000 were for back problems.

GPs working in the NHS Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group issued a total of 45,396 notes over the period, an average of 124 per day.

Meanwhile those working in the NHS Telford and Wrekin CCG gave out 33,665, or 92 per day.

The new figures come as the rules are set to be changed to allow other health workers to sign people off sick, reducing the workload faced by doctors.

The Department for Work and Pensions says it will legislate to allow other health professionals to certify people as unable to work.

A spokesperson said: "We want to reduce the burden on GPs and that’s why we intend to legislate for the extension of fit note certification to other healthcare professionals. We will work with the NHS on this."

People in work need a fit note if they are off work for more than seven days.

Across England, 5.7 million fit notes were handed out over the 12 months to the end of June.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “It is vital that a robust system is in place to ensure people are fit for work, and if they are not, then they have ready access to the appropriate care and services to improve their quality of life.

"At a time when our workload in general practice is escalating in both volume and complexity – and when patients are waiting longer and longer for appointments – we would certainly welcome exploring whether other highly-skilled clinical members of the practice team can share some of these responsibilities."

The British Medical Association said if another health professional, such as a physiotherapist, was treating a patient, they should be able to certify fitness for work rather than additionally involving a doctor.

In Shropshire, the average monthly rate of fit notes was 2,170 per 100,000 working age people registered with a GP, which is down on the previous 12 months – however that may be due, in part, to under-reporting in February caused by technical issues in gathering the data.

But despite the problems in February, the rate in Telford – 2,802 per 100,000 – was up on the year before. The highest rate was 3,695 in Halton, Cheshire, while the lowest was 851 in Richmond, London.

The most common reasons that doctors signed people off work were mental and behavioural disorders, particularly stress, and musculoskeletal conditions, such as back problems.

In Shropshire, 7,325 notes were given out for mental health issues and 3,562 for back problems. In Telford it was 5,714 for mental health issues and 2,896 for back problems.

Despite now being called fit notes, 94 per cent of those issued classify people as unfit for work.