Patients in Scotland outdo the rest of the country by 2:1 - Scottish GPs receive 1,013 requests for sick-notes a year on average Doctors in East Anglia receive the least requests in the UK, at 286 per year Over-eating is seen as the most damaging dietary habit affecting patients' health The GP panel thinks better public education about the impact of poor diet on health would be most effective in reducing this impact Nearly half (48%) of GPs say at least a third of their time is spent on social, rather than medical issues - 70% of those questioned don't think the profession is adequately equipped to deal with these.

Research amongst workers also revealed the top five reasons they'd give to get a sick note:

Embarrassment ie. personal crisis they couldn't tell their employer about Workplace is too stressful Holiday request refused or didn't want to use their holiday entitlement Fatigue Gave me a legitimate excuse to skive off workDr Doug Wright, clinical development manager at Norwich Union Healthcare adds: "One of the main themes of the report is how much time doctors devote to matters other than medical ones in their surgery, and that they're not feeling adequately equipped to deal with these issues.

"Their view is that if patients were to educate themselves more about their condition, as well as the other forms of support available, this could not only reduce the numbers attending their surgery, but will actually benefit patients' health, long-term. And of course, the added benefit of this is that GPs will be free to spend more time with patients who genuinely need their medical attention."

Roger Taylor, research director at Dr Foster said: "More work is needed to understand how social support could help people cope better with the stresses of life, improve their health and lifestyle and reduce unnecessary burdens on the health service".

Full details of the Health of the Nation Index report can be accessed at www.healthofthenation