Fit notes are issued to patients by doctors following an assessment of their fitness for work.
The Department of Work and Pensions are collecting fit note data to inform policy development and evaluate the Fit for Work Service. The data will be collected from February 2016 and will be published from spring 2016.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the NHS’s data centre, will receive anonymous data using software already within our computers.
Statistics derived from fit notes will be used to gain a better understanding of sickness absence across England in order that policy can be developed to provide support where it is most needed. No individual patients will be identifiable.
For more information on the use of personal data and the options available to patients visit the HSCIC website on www.hscic.gov.uk. For information about the types of information they collect go to www.hscic.gov.uk/article/4963/What-we-collect.
For details of how the data is looked after go to www.hscic.gov.uk/article/3388/How-we-look-after-information.
Anonymous data extracted from GP practices to HSCIC (NHS Data Centre). |
HSCIC turns data into a statistical report and publishes it on their website. |
DWP analysts and researchers use the anonymous statistical reports to inform policy. |