(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-18 09:12

LONDON - Ill-health is costing Britain's economy 100 billion pounds (200 billion US dollars) a year, according to the latest official data published on Monday.

Some 175 million working days are lost each year in Britain, costing the economy 100 billion pounds in lost productivity, benefits and taxes, a report commissioned by the government revealed Monday.

The report compiled by Dame Carol Black, the national director for health and work, called for a new fit-note system as well as fit for work schemes embedded in the National Health Service (NHS) to help people back to work.

Black called for a fundamental overhaul of the support given to workers who are off work through illness, saying the reforms could help cut the numbers on incapacity benefit.

Some 350,000 people a year move from long-term sick notes in to the NHS system, according to the report.

She has proposed creating a new fit note which encourages general practitioners (GPs) to spell out what the individual can do rather than cannot do.

Businesses should do more to facilitate flexible working, such as shorter working weeks or a change of duties, to get staff back as quickly as possible. Firms, especially the big employers, should also establish their own occupational health and rehabilitation teams and promote healthy lifestyles through subsidized gym membership and encouraging staff to walk and cycle to work, the report said.