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Sick-Note Britain

How Social Problems Became Medical Issues

By: Adrian Massey

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Hardcover | 4 February 2019

At a Glance

Hardcover
272 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.9 x 14.1 x 3.5

Hardcover

$71.75

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The NHS is stretched to its limits. Yet doctors are writing 10 million sick-notes a year for ailments they cannot cure, consuming money better spent on increasing disability benefits, and leaving the ill who could be treated unable to get an appointment. Dr Adrian Massey has worked at the intersection of medicine and society for decades. He argues compellingly that our hypermedicalised society has falsely equated sickness with illness, and sickness with unfitness to work--whereas sickness is primarily a social problem requiring social, not medical, solutions. Sick-Note Britain lays bare Britain's gross error: when doctors cannot 'fix' anxiety or chronic pain, workplace attendance is still treated as a matter for arbitration by our strained primary care service. What is needed is a tailored, employer-employee contractual solution, but obstacles block this approach: excessively complex employment law constraining both sides; an outdated benefits system that overburdens doctors and traumatises the vulnerable; and a workplace culture that is too inflexible to keep sick employees in work. This is a blistering condemnation of a sham system that works for nobody, and an urgent call to rethink how we manage sickness--for the sake of our economy, our wellbeing, and our health service.

Industry Reviews

'A furious polemic . . . heady and optimistic.'
'A provocative book that challenges the subjective ways we approach willingness or capability to work. This will be an uncomfortable read for many, but raises important questions that need to be addressed in the modern technological era.' -- Lord David Blunkett
'Detailed, convincing and controversial. Massey does not mince his words: the British approach to determining whether one suffers work incapacity is counterproductive. An argument that merits careful consideration across the resource-advantaged world.' -- Nortin M. Hadler, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the University of North Carolina
'[This book] will stimulate and enlighten any reader. ... Employers, politicians, employees, GPs, occupational health advisors and probably Joe public would do well to read this!' -- Personnel Today
'A most insightful read which provides a thought-provoking appreciation of the subject matter. ...especially relevant in the current day practice of medicine.' -- Journal of Occupational Medicine
'This thought-provoking polemic is both erudite and wickedly entertaining.' -- British Journal of General Practice

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