Sick-Note Britain How Social Problems Became Medical Issues

by Massey, Adrian

• ISBN13: 9781787381223
• ISBN10: 1787381226
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781787382299
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2019-04-01
• Publisher: Hurst
• More Book Details

Summary

Dr Adrian Massey has worked at the intersection of medicine and society for decades. He argues compellingly that our hyper-medicalized 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contractual solution, but obstacles block this approach: excessively complex employment law constraining both sides; an outdated benefits system that overburdens doctors and traumatizes the vulnerable; and a workplace culture that is too inflexible to keep sick employees in work.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.