Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the inclusion of Paramedic Practitioners to certify fit notes under the Fit Note (Statement of Fitness for Work) legislation.

Legislation was amended in 2022 to widen the list of professionals eligible to issue a fit note to include pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and registered nurses, alongside doctors.

The changes were made following extensive consultation with a wide range of healthcare professionals and their professional bodies. The aim of the changes was to ease the burden on GPs, streamline the interface between primary and secondary care, and enable fit notes to be issued by the clinician closest to the patient at the time they needed a fit note.

While paramedics are not able to issue fit notes, they and other Allied Health Professionals can contribute to decisions on sickness certification through completion of an AHP Work and Health Report. This may be considered by eligible professionals when issuing a fit note.

In May, the government launched pilot programmes across 4 Integrated Care Board areas in England to reform the fit note process. The pilots will test a fundamentally different approach, exploring replacing the traditional GP-led fit note process with newly designed plans that provide better support to people who fall ill at work. The long-term aim is for fundamental reform of the fit note process, and the pilots are not intended to revisit or reopen questions around paramedics issuing fit notes.