Ministers want GPs to avoid sick notes and refer people to life coaches

Doctors will be encouraged to refer people to life coaches rather than just sign them off sick, under reforms designed to get more people back to work.

Ministers have become increasingly alarmed about the growing welfare bill and want to overhaul the sick note system, with the aim of more people attending back-to-work programmes.

A record 2.5 million people are not working because of long-term sickness, leading to what ministers fear has become a “huge increase in the size of the welfare state” that is blowing a hole in the public finances.

The government is on course to breach its own £140 billion welfare cap by £4 billion next year as long-term sickness pushes up spending. Currently £53 billion is spent on health and disability

The Flash Sale.