News & Advice
Doctors to urge 2 week absence before workers need to see a GP
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What does this mean?
An interesting article discussing extending fit notes from one to two weeks, to relieve pressure on GPs, can be found here: http://bit.ly/29wwzm4
This should be a good idea in principle, but it relies on a positive, trusting relationship between employees and employers – which isn’t a consistent reality.
When Physiofusion see employees who are already off sick, it is surprising just how often there are underlying communication or management issues between the employee and employer. In this scenario, extending the self-cert period to two weeks would only exacerbate things, resulting in more entrenched positions, with higher levels of stress for both the employee and the team who are left picking up the slack – as well as additional costs for the employer.
It also talks about allowing other allied health professionals (of which Physios are one) to certify, as well as GPs. This could really help to share the workload, but plenty of support would have to be put in place to ensure that patients turning up to the ‘wrong’ professional were then appropriately signposted on. On the plus side, it should allow faster access to the necessary services, which has to result in quicker recovery times – good news for everyone!
Sorrel Miller (Managing Director)