Doctors to give 'fit notes' instead of sick notes GP consultation GPs will no longer

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Doctors to give 'fit notes' instead of sick notes





GPs will no longer sign sick notes

Workers who are off sick for longer than seven days will from now on receive so-called fit notes instead of sick notes from their GPs.

Doctors will still be able to say someone is not fit for work, but they will also be able to spell out aspects of jobs workers can still perform.
The onus will be on employers to help staff return to work in some capacity.
But the British Medical Association says more

needs to be done so firms understand their responsibilities.
The overhaul of the sick note system was announced a year ago by government adviser Dame Carol Black, the national director for health and work.
She calculated that ill-health was costing the economy £100bn a year.


'Fit for work'

The Statement of Fitness for Work, or 'fit note', is a new medical statement that doctors will now be issuing. It is relevant to all employers in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
With the fit note the doctor will be able to advise their patient if they are "not fit for work" or a new option - "may be fit for work taking account of the following advice".
Patients will then be encouraged to discuss this advice with their employer to see if they can return to work.

Heather Matheson, human resources consultant: "There may be some conflict"

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GPs committee, said: "The responsibility will be on employers to act.
"If a GP decides their patient is capable of some form of work, for example if they've got back pain and they should temporarily avoid elements of their normal job, then it will be down to the employer to be flexible enough to accommodate them.
"However, we think much more needs to be done to ensure employers, in particular local line managers, have enough information about the changes."



The launch of fit notes is going to be revolutionary


Professor Steve Field, RCGP

And he said GPs would have to ensure they were not "drawn in to making comments they are not qualified to make" because they would be unaware of the details of a patient's working conditions.
Dr Buckman added: "Employers have a responsibility to provide adequate occupational health services and the government must encourage them to provide that if the overall plan to help more people back to work is to be truly effective.
"But, unfortunately, only one worker in eight has access to an occupational health doctor."





Wellbeing

A thousand GPs have been trained by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in how to complete the new forms.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH FACTS
172 million working days lost through sickness in 2007
This cost more than £100bn in lost productivity
2.6 million people were on incapacity benefits in May
Absences of four days or more account for 40% of days lost
Nearly six million people in the UK say they have a long-standing health condition

Sources: CBI; Black report
Professor Steve Field, of the RCGP, said: "There has been a lot of preparation for GPs, for employers, and employees but inevitably there will be some that are not up to speed.
"The launch of fit notes is going to be revolutionary because it will change the whole culture and we know that keeping people in work helps their physical and mental wellbeing."
Katja Hall, director of employment policy at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "This is a change that employers will welcome.
"All too often a person is signed off sick when they are able to manage some forms of their work."
However, unions have warned that handing someone a list of tasks they could perform while ill would not help them get back to full fitness.



Early intervention

Some GPs have been frustrated with the current system because they are unable to assess what work an employee can do if they do not know what their workplace responsibilities are.
Under the current system, a GP has the power to sign someone off work for six months before the case is passed onto a benefits administrator.
About 350,000 people a year transfer from sick notes to benefits, a figure which experts believe could be cut significantly with earlier and more effective intervention.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8599354.stm

[flumperino]

A good idea in theory, but I see some issues:

GPs will be wary of putting their necks on the line with this. It is all too easy to just sign someone off and be on the safe side, rather than ordering someone back to work and risk them suing you down the road.

Secondly.....I would suggest that those who are unwell but still feel able to contribute to work will find a way to make it happen i.e. work from home, arrange different duties themselves.
Those fit enough to do some work but they just can't be arsed and are taking advantage of the sick pay, will find a way to get out of any additional work.

Don't know how true these statements as they are just my (pessimistic) assumptions, but I can't see this new fit note making much difference tbh.

[baggy13]

another attemp at disabled bashing a game that both main parties at the media love to play its so easy to do these days.i know there are bad apples abusing the system just as there are in every other walk of life but when the stakes are down why do these people think that its fair to pick on some very sick and vunerable people would it be the same for gays,blacks or muslims NO because we protected them but everyone just sees the disabled as fair game it stinks to the rotten core

[matieboy]

I think its a great idea, get some of these lazy sponges scrounging stinking fat f@ckers back to work.
and sort out the dodgy disability claiments too, there are plenty of jobs now where you sit on your arse all day,
And another thing whilst i'm on a rant! why the f@ck are disabled bays near the entrance to superstores, because from what i see, they can park the car close but are to infirm to walk from the other end of the car park, so why can they walk around a store for an hour doing shopping??
to be disabled you you must not be able to walk 65m without aid(local authority guide line)
i am quite sure its more than 65m round tesco, asda etc other superstores are avaible.

[BBK]

I think its a great idea, get some of these lazy sponges scrounging stinking fat f@ckers back to work.

Whilst I agree with your sentiments, why pick on the fat? There's plenty of fat people in the workplace, and plenty of skinny people skiving off doing fuck all. Don't discriminate, people can be lazy scrounging fuckers and be all shapes, sizes and colours. You really shouldn't limit your vitriol to one small(ish) section of society

[matieboy]

Ok BBk, i was maybe generalising whilst going off on my rant,
it could be directed at the thick, the thin, the stupid or anyone,
i dont want to ba accused of being a fattest,lol
dear or dear what a world we live in now

[B.I.G.]

i dont want to ba accused of being a fattest,lol

No need to worry about that m8 without doubt BBk's fattest.

In theory it's a good idea as long as it's not abused by employers.Employers should be as responsible for the well being of employees as much as doctors so they're not forcing people back to work just for the sake of having to pay them for sitting at home recuperating and instead give them a meaningless job in the factory just to make them come to work.

[Over Carl]

Something I looked into a while back - if you ever wish to claim for constructive dismissal, you need to refuse the type of work you are claiming about from the very offset, if you are to carry out such tasks, these weaken your claim.

How does this fit in with the above?

[B.I.G.]

Also if you were deemed fit enough for a certain position but didn't feel you were up to it could you refuse and if forced and ended up aggrevating whatever was wrong with you could you then put a claim in against your employer.

Basically it all comes down to the government not wanting to pay ssp and companies trying to get out of paying sick leave and would rather fuck the general working man over yet again.

The company where i work had someone in with arthritis sat in a chair for eight hours looking at a monitor of a static camera in the security lodge for a week.Another lad was told he had to do the same whilst recovering from a hernia operation he refused and they stopped his sick pay and he got nothing.I broke my leg before i had been working there long enough to qualify for the sick scheme and went to human resourses asking if i could come in and do anything and was promptly told to go home.


Now fair enough you will get people abusing sick schemes and the like but if this kind of thing became the norm then all the things that unions (and workers) in the past sacrificed for payed sick leave would count for nothing as i can't think of many illnesses that you couldn't be forced to do some kind of menial irrelevant job created especially for you during your illness.

[Zippeyrude]

great idea

previously an injury or condition would result in a sick note that would allow you to stay off work

the fit note allows certain activities to be permitted.

if someone has for example ibs why shouldnt they log in from home (if possible)?

it makes total sense that people should not be allowed to stay off work when there ailment would allow them to work on certain tasks without pain or discomfort

now if only the govt would stop paying out benefits to lazy scroungers who dont want to work

[4me2]

What is ibs ?

[Zippeyrude]

What is ibs ?

irritable bowel syndrome