A failure of employers to provide their staff with a proper occupational health service lies at the root of the CBI's denigration of general practice, says the BMA today.

In a firm riposte to the CBI's criticisms of the family doctor service, Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GPs Committee, said:

"The CBI and its members should put their own house in order before trying to heap the blame on general practice. If employees lose time from work to see their doctor it is either because they are ill and need care or because their employer has insisted they get a sick-note even for a temporary illness which has passed. This abuse of the sick-note system is a waste of the time of both working people and clinicians."

Contrary to CBI claims, general practice has changed profoundly, says Dr Buckman, with…