Doctors' handwritten sicknotes to be replaced by electronic fitnotes

Dame Carol Black said the traditional note, introduced in the 1920s, was unlikely to get individuals back into work.

The fitnote would concentrate on what tasks a person could perform and would be passed on to employers who could offer shorter hours or different duties.

Currently, those who are sick only need visit their doctor if they are off for more than a week.

The GP decides whether to sign them off, and they can do so for up to six months.

After this, a person with a sicknote transfers to incapacity benefit.

The British Medical Association said it has 'grave reservations' about fitnotes,

including concerns about giving sensitive information direct to employers.

Dame Carol said the human cost of falling ill was "immeasurable" saying that for most people work was a key factor for 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.

"This is not only devastating for them but also for their families. The aim of my review is not to offer a utopian solution for improved health in working life but to identify factors that stand in the way and offer potential solutions."

The figures heighten fears Britain is breeding a "Shameless generation", named after the Channel 4 television programme which charts the lives of the dysfunctional Gallagher family, comprising the father, Frank Gallagher and his eight children.

Dame Carol said good work-related health support was disproportionately concentrated among a few large employers.

Occupational health should be brought into the mainstream of health care provision, said the report - 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 cent were off work sick.

About one in five workers still smoked and levels of obesity were increasing "dramatically" according to today's report.

The costs to the taxpayer of so many people off work and being treated on the NHS was about £60billion but the annual economic cost was worth more than £100billion to the economy.

Dame Carol said employers could help people return to work after an illness by making "regular and sensitive" contact during sickness absences.

The report found that two out of five organisations had no sickness absence policy at all, adding that there was a strong case for the NHS to be involved in the provision of work-related health interventions.

About 600,000 people move on to incapacity benefits every year, said the report, adding: "The system is failing those with common health conditions who, with the right support, could instead have maintained their job and progressed in the workplace."

Work and Pensions secretary James Purnell said: "Today's report marks a radical shift in our approach to dealing with health in the workplace, focusing on prevention rather than cure."

Health Secretary Alan Johnson added: "We know that staying in or returning to work is generally good for patients' health whereas unemployment is progressively damaging, leading to more sickness, mental illness, disability and shorter life expectancy."

The ministers said they will study today's report and look at the best way of implementing some of the recommendations.