The revelations are likely to reignite concern over Britain’s growing sick note culture. Workers took 148.9 million sick days last year, an 11% rise on a decade ago. The surge prompted a crackdown by former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who proposed stripping GPs of the power to sign people off work amid fears the system is fuelling a productivity crisis.
On Saturday, Helen Whately, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, condemned the “rogue” Dr Sick Ltd as “a symptom of a deeper sickness in our welfare system”, and criticised Labour for scrapping the Tories’ planned fit note reforms.
The former Conservative Health Minister said: “Sick notes to care for your dog or sunbathe in Malta signed off within hours, no ID, no checks, no link to the NHS. This rogue website is a symptom of a deeper sickness in our welfare system.
“We need an end to the system where it is easier to get a sick note than a job. Labour scrapped our reforms to the fit note system, and now we are living with the consequences.
“Too often, decisions are made without evidence, without scrutiny, and without consequence. Sick notes have become a pathway to permanent dependency, trapping the very people who need real help in a system that’s quietly given up on them.”
Figures disclosed by the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that, as of November last year, almost 5.8 million people in England and Wales are claiming out-of-work benefits.
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer was forced to water down plans to cut personal independence payments – financial support for disabled people – following an unprecedented rebellion from his own MPs.
Munaf, 37, a serial entrepreneur who has appeared on Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice, was dropped from the BBC spin-off The Apprentice: You’re Fired last February after describing Zionism as a “godless satanic cult” and Zionists as “odiously ogre-like” in posts on X.
He was temporarily suspended by the GMC that same month. After a hearing in August 2024, the interim suspension was lifted and replaced with practice restrictions.
Munaf has continued to share anti-Semitic content online, including Holocaust denial and claims that 9/11 was “a Jewish job”. Last November, the GMC again imposed an interim suspension pending investigation.
Posing as a supermarket worker with Covid, a Telegraph reporter was issued a sick note within four hours of completing Dr Sick Ltd’s online form, without being asked for proof of a positive test.
Although the request was for two weeks off, the certificate granted five months. This appeared to contradict Dr Sick Ltd’s own policy stating that any leave longer than six weeks requires GP approval.
For the second note, the reporter claimed to be a nursery teacher anxious about a dying pet. “I need to be home with my dog, especially as these are likely to be his last weeks,” they wrote. A certificate was issued within two hours granting six weeks’ leave for “significant distress following recent personal events”. The dog was not mentioned.
The final request, made under the reporter’s real name, sought an “adjustment to work duties” to allow remote working while they took a Mediterranean holiday.
“To be honest, I need this adjustment because I want to join my friends on holiday in Malta next month, but please don’t put that on the certificate,” they wrote.
“I am confident I can perform my job working remotely for that week, and from home the other weeks. The office work and daily commute on the hot and sweaty tube has made me stressed and I will feel much better with some fresh air, a change of scenery, and more time at home.”
That request was approved within an hour.
“Having reviewed the medical history and current symptoms,” the certificate stated, “I have deemed them unfit for work in their current capacity.
“This is due to significant stress and heat exhaustion with difficulty focusing from the recent hot weather which is impacting their ability to perform their duties. Accordingly, we have advised them to rest and recover by working from home to avoid the heat and humidity on the London Underground.”
At no point was the reporter asked for ID, GP details or medical evidence. The only requirement was to write a sentence of more than 20 words describing their symptoms and requested dates of absence.
All three certificates, branded with the Dr Sick logo, bore the name, GMC number and apparent signature of a GMC-registered doctor employed by a locum agency used by NHS trusts. When contacted by the Telegraph, the agency said their employee had denied working for Dr Sick Ltd or signing the documents.
Munaf did not respond when asked if this was true. The entrepreneur did say that he had no role in issuing the certificates himself, saying: “I don’t issue the medical notes – I run the business.”
He claimed: “Dr Sick Ltd is an ICO-registered, UK-based digital service with a team of five fully GMC-registered UK doctors who issue fit notes in accordance with HIPAA-aligned guidelines.”
Because he has been temporarily suspended by the GMC, Munaf is prohibited by law from practising medicine or presenting himself as a medical doctor.
The Medical Act 1983 states that a doctor subject to such an interim suspension order, “shall be treated as not being registered in the register” and that anyone who “wilfully and falsely pretends” to be a registered medical practitioner may be committing a criminal offence. This could include an individual using the “Dr” title to imply they are registered and fit to practise medicine.
