Not that i am off work very often but i would like to know what the new sick note's / forms are like
Has any one on here had one today as its the first day for them
Jacko

i know a fair bit about them for my interview next week but not personally had one

^ well, go on then craig lol tell us

they're called fit for work notes or something?

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/med3-fitnote-sample.pdf

More information on how they should be used here
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2832&gclid=CNWdvJTe8qACFROElAodNRe2GQ


[Edited on 6/4/10 by iank]

theyre introduced today but only 1000 GPs have actually been trained to give them so far.

They are a huge faff basically . If you have been off sick for over 7 days you can no longer self-certify (i.e. just tell work youre sick, which is just like the current system). You would have to be given a sick note by the doctor after this point to continue getting sick pay. Often the sick note would suggest a date when you would be better to return to work but thats generally it.

Nowadays you will be given a fit note by the doctor. Your GP will make an assessment of your illness and suggests a level of work that you could undertake. For example if you could not stand but were otherwise fine he/she would suggests that desk work or work from home is possible. It is then the responsibility of your place of work to try to accomodate this.

The idea is to protect your rights to sick leave by putting the onus on the employer to get you back to work based on your sickness. If they can't then you still get sick pay. If you have the flu then the doctor will say youre not really fit for any type of work. On the flip side its designed to encourage you back to some form of work rather than doing nothing at all.

There are some possible issues because a GP is not qualified to comment specifically on you or the job you do - they have no idea what you are really expected to do at work, they are just supposed to make suggestions which should be followed up by an occupational health department where you work. For example if they suggest you can do light lifting thats not an excuse for work to have you back shifting bags of sand because they class that as "light"!

Sorry for the waffle, hope this clarifies and also this is only "as i understant it"

BBC NEWS
'Fit notes' to replace 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.

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.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/8599354.stm

Published: 2010/04/05 23:20:44 GMT

© BBC MMX

what I said

quote:

---

A thousand GPs have been trained by the Royal College of General Practitioners ....................................................................................... Professor Steve Field, of the RCGP, said: "There has been a lot of preparation for GPs,

---

Well if training means we've been sent the standard DoH bumph that's already been hyperlinked then yes we've been trained.....

Of course the truth is we haven't got the forgiest. Usual DoH cock-up. Last one was the pregnancy grants. Big annoucement on tele, all pregnant women told to go to the GP to get the form, only then was it discovered that the forms hadn't been sent out yet and it was going to take 3 months to prepare them... Great. It's almost as if the minister for health makes up these ideas of the top of his / her head and then the DoH does whatever (s)he's just said... (after the usual steering parties, cross-party committees etc have sat twidling their thumbs for a few months)....

Quite why the DWP don't take it off our hands completely is beyond me, they rarely pay any attention to what us lot write on the sick (sorry fit) notes anyway...

The main problem I see with them is that you need to get the note sorted within 7 days of getting ill? That means that where I live you would have to book your doctors appointment for at least a week before you got ill! - Our government is the best!

no i dont think thats the case. you can self certify for the first 7 days then after that you need a note which is usually dated by the doctor from the first day of your illness onwards and there is a grace period for you to get the note based on when you can get to the docs.

The main differences are that you can't be signed off for longer than (IIRC) 3 months within the first 6 months and we have to specify under what situations someone could go back to work. But it'll all be a terrible balls up in all likelyhood.

The other day one of my patients got declined for the disability living allowance on the grounds that they were housebound and therefore couldn't get to the hearing regarding their DLA. I'm sure it make sense to the panel.... I could understand if they didn't give DLA to people who attended but to not give it to the people too ill to make it? Bizarre.....

Hmm, I can see that for many people, they may indeed be able to get back to work sooner with this system, but that they will take longer to fully recover as they can't fully rest.

I find this with even minor ailments - have a rotten cold, take a day off sitting in front of the fire and I'm pretty well back to normal; carry on working and it'll take me near enough a week to recover. As I'm a contractor, it's my money, but I'll still take the day off. End result, I'm out of pocket, but can put in four days of good work rather than five of half-hearted effort.

I see it this way if i am sick i go to the doctors = time off work to get well
If im not sick i go to work.

i would say this new form is for skivers

i dont get sick pay for the first week, stautory is about a third ??

i cannot afford a day off work, let alone a week.....

so...i go to work sick.....

[Edited on 7/4/10 by boggle]