DOCTORS have been urged to stop handing out sick notes and instead send patients to the gym to keep them at work.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for the tougher measures as the Government looks to slash costs after its ballooning benefits bill.

Currently, close to three million people in the UK are unable to work due to health issues, and over seven million are receiving sickness-related benefits.

And over the past year, more than ten million “fit notes” were handed out to people without a plan to keep them in employment.

But a new pilot scheme has been launched which looks to keep patients in work by supporting them with gym classes and employment coaches.

It comes as a study revealed that sickness benefits claimants are £2,500 better off each year than full-time workers.

The economically inactive who claim Universal Credit with average housing benefit and Personal Independence Payments can receive £25,000.

That compares with £22,500 that those on the National Living Wage take home after paying their taxes, the Centre for Social Justice said.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Streeting admitted that GPs simply “writing people off” has caused damaging effects for the economy.

He said: “Some 2.8 million people are out of work due to health conditions.

“This is bad for patients, bad for the NHS, and bad for the economy.

“Right now, we’re issuing 11 million fit notes a year, with 93 per cent simply dismissing people as not fit for work.

“Instead of GPs spending precious time rubber-stamping people out of the workforce, we’re supporting providers to bring in specialists.

“Occupational therapists, work coaches, and social prescribers can assist individuals in returning to the workforce while effectively managing their health conditions.”

The WorkWell primary care program is designed to relieve GPs of some duties and develop tailored plans to address the widespread “sick note” mindset in the nation.

The trial will be launched across 15 locations with the highest unemployment and sickness levels.

Surgeries will receive funding to employ dedicated specialists to keep people in work or help them find a new job.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for a crackdown on health and disability benefits this week – with the outlay set to spiral to £100billion by the end of the decade. 

Ms Badenoch said in a speech the number of in-person checks has slipped because of the pandemic, being replaced with cheaper phone interviews. 

She said: “Approval rates have soared, and we now have online ‘sickfluencers’ selling people scripts to maximise their scores on an assessment.

“We need to build in proper medical evidence to the system. And go back to face-to-face assessments which never recovered after Covid.

“Food intolerances are a medical fact, but they’re not something we should be handing out new cars for.

“That is not a joke. This actually happens.” 

The Prime Minister was recently forced into several embarrassing climbdowns as Labour was pressured into a £5 billion welfare U-turn.

Sir Keir Starmer was also forced to abandon a key plank of his controversial benefit cuts in order to get them through parliament.

Just minutes before voting began, ministers announced that plans to restrict eligibility for personal independence payments were being dropped.

Sir Keir had already been forced into a U-turn the week before when more than 130 Labour MPs turned rebels and signed an amendment that would have effectively killed the bill off.

Among the concessions announced then was a plan to impose tougher eligibility rules only on future PIP claimants, leaving existing recipients unaffected.

Analysis previously revealed that ditching the child benefits cap would hand thousands of pounds a year in extra benefits to 180,000 large families in which no one goes out to work.

But critics of the cap claim it has worsened child poverty.

The hard-hitting rule, which slashes payments like Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, is costing struggling households an average of £4,300 each, according to a recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show a staggering 450,000 families were stung by the cap last year.