Author Topic: Fit Notes  (Read 311 times)

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Offline Miss Demeanour

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Fit Notes
« on: April 06, 2010, 09:41:48 AM »
So ...no more being 'signed' off ' sick for a specified period of time and doctors will have the time to go through an employees job and role and decide if they are fit for work and will then suggest the types of support which will assist their return to work  rubschin:

The main changes are:
-the removal of the fit for work option;
-a new option for a doctor to advise if an employee may be fit for work with some support;
-more space for a doctor to provide information on how the employee?s condition will affect what they do;
-helpful tick boxes for doctors to use to suggest common ways to help a return to work


Can't wait to read some of these when they come in for any members of my team...... bearing in mind that it has been difficult enough in the past to get a bloody signature on these ...how on earth are they going to get the time to fill these in properly  noooo:




« Last Edit: April 06, 2010, 10:18:25 AM by Miss Demeanor »
Skubber

Offline Snoopy

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Re: Fit Notes
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2010, 10:33:08 AM »
Don't give a f*** to be honest.

Sometimes it is good to have been classified as "Disabled and unfit for employment"  cloud9:


But to answer your questions ~ Doctors have already said that they do not and never will know enough about their individual patients' various employments and the tasks that they may involve. The doctors guidance from the BMA is clear. The GP must state whether he/she considers the patient to be fit to work or not (as opposed to being too ill to work as has been the case). The GP is now able to qualify that "Fitness to work" statement by saying that the patient may not/should not, in the course of their duties,  be expected, in the case of back pain or pregnancy for example, to lift, carry etc The GP may write that the patient should not be subject to stress or that they may be infectious for up to a given period .... and so on, dependent upon the diagnosis.

In my case the GP would be able to state that my heart condition makes it impossible for me to climb stairs, stand for protracted periods, walk more than 50 yards and that I am subject to sudden heart stoppage that will cause me to effectively die but that the implanted defibrillator will probably shock my heart into re-starting. It would then be a matter for the employer to seek advice from their own retained doctor or from their insurers as to  (i) the type of work that they could reasonably expect me to be able to do and (ii) whether the insurers will be prepared to provide cover for me. In my case it is unlikely that the insurers would agree to provide cover under the employer's "Employee Liability Insurance" and thus the employer would not agree to my returning to work.

Same will apply to most illnesses. If the GP says you have Typhoid it is unlikely that the employer will want you infecting the rest of the workforce.

Why worry about it? Surely you can see that this is simply another idea that Government have come up with trying to look as though they are doing something about the work-shy and that it will not really change anything?
« Last Edit: April 06, 2010, 10:36:23 AM by Snoopy »
I used to have a handle on life but it broke.

Offline Miss Demeanour

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Re: Fit Notes
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2010, 10:45:24 AM »
I worry about it because it also enables you as a manager to challenge the advice that the doctor puts on there in relation to what tasks the individual is suitable to do.

Knowing how this works in reality I can see a lot of opportunity for dissent and misunderstanding.
Skubber

Offline Snoopy

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Re: Fit Notes
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2010, 10:53:28 AM »
The doctor will say if the person is fully fit or partially fit. Then the onus is on the employer to offer "suitable" employment to the employee. For example "Light Duties" or "Part Time hours" for a given period prior to them resuming full employment. If agreement cannot be reached then arbitration will decide the matter. It is incumbent on employers to make suitable arrangements to challenge any medical opinion or to accept it. Your employer will have policies in place, if not then they should have.
With all due respect this is way above your level on the corporate  food chain.
Your function is to implement policy not decide it ~ any argument then bump it upstairs to HR.
I used to have a handle on life but it broke.

Offline Miss Demeanour

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Re: Fit Notes
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2010, 11:13:08 AM »
I can only speak for the place in  which I work Snoops but HR certainly do not make the decisions. They support and advise but decision making is very much left to the manager.

Policies which guide this are all very generic and wishy washy enough to cover all and nothing.

For example  - I have a member of the team who has just been placed on notice that she is to be disciplined. When she was informed she held her hands up and said yep, I did it (I shall not go into what for).  Predictably the first thing she did after this was go off sick.  It is now coming up to 4 weeks off sick and she hasn't gone down the route of saying she is stressed as I would have expected but has been signed off for severe pre menstrual tension ( 4 weeks) .

She is due to provide a new doctors cert this week ( fit note) ...I will be interested to know what this will say  rubschin:
Skubber