MEMBERS of the community are clashing over plans to extend the amount of time workers can sign themselves off sick.

Representatives of the British Medical Association met yesterday to discuss the possibility of allowing employees to take up to two weeks off work without a note from their GP.

Medical professionals argue that writing notes for people who only need to be off work for a couple of weeks takes away appointments from patients who really them but people across south Cumbria remain divided.

Geoff Jolliffe, interim chairman of Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, welcomes the move.

He said: "We strongly support this move.

"We find that most short-term illness is honest and most people want to get back to work as soon as possible."

However, the Federation of Small Businesses believes the new rule might have a negative effect on small firms in the area.

Paul Foster, regional development manager for the FSB in Cumbria and Lancashire, said: "We understand that GPs do a great job and are under pressure, however the knock-on impact of a move like this will be to place more emphasis on employers to deal with the issue in the workplace.

"The average rate of sickness absence in the UK was found to be 9.1 days a year, at a total cost of £28bn.

"Allowing employees to take 2 weeks off sick without needing to get a doctors agreement will likely see that rate increase."

Mr Foster argued that although pressure on GPs needs to be reduced, placing responsibility on business owners is not the answer.

He said: "The BMA have suggested that it is the employer’s role to manage workplace health and absence issues, yet this misses the point that most small businesses don’t have a Human Resources department or even a HR manager.

"We need to look at how we fund and run GP services, but transferring responsibility and the problem to small businesses is not the solution."