A BRITISH government adviser yesterday called for a radical new approach to work-related health services, after claiming that ill health was costing Britain £100 billion (€150 billion) a year - enough to run the entire NHS.
Dame Carol Black, the national director for health and work, said that "urgent and comprehensive" reform was needed.
She made a series of recommendations aimed mainly at the government and employers to make Britain a healthier country for workers.
Dame Black said in her 125-page report that a new "fit for work" service should be launched to target people in the early stages of sickness.
The government was also urged to set up a new consultancy service offering advice and support to smaller business groups.
Trade unions should play an expanded role in efforts to improve the health of workers, said the report.
Dame Black said the human cost of falling ill was "immeasurable" saying that, for most people, work was a key factor in their esteem and self-worth.
"If they become sick and are not helped quickly enough they can all too easily find themselves on a downward spiral into long-term sickness and a life on benefits.
She also complained that the current sick note system concentrated on what people cannot do instead of what they can.
She recommended that doctors' written sick notes should be replaced with an electronic "fit note" saying what people were able to do even if they were ill.
Occupational health should be brought into the mainstream of healthcare provision, said the report, entitled Working for a Healthier Tomorrow.
The study said that the employment rate of people with a health condition was increasing but around 7 per cent of the working population were on incapacity benefits and an additional 3 per were off work sick.