time off work for hospital appointment

mountainofdebt

Look OP there's a saying that goes "he who pays the piper, calls the tune".

Unfortunately as your condition is not covered by law (ie you're not pregnant) you have to abide by your employers wishes to see the appointment letter.

However if you can't swop or don't wish your employer to see the letter your only alternatively is to rearrange the appointment.

End of.

mountainofdebt

j.e.j. wrote: »

fine, that's you personally.
not everyone would be happy to do this.

But I weighed the embarressment factor against the wish to attend the hospital appointment and the later won,

AP007

mountainofdebt wrote: »

But I weighed the embarressment factor against the wish to attend the hospital appointment and the later won,

Yes I am with you - the same goes for if you are ill and call in sick if you think it's senstive you still have to tell work why you can not make it in. This is the same thing.

k12479

- Photocopy the letter
- Get a black marker
- Cross out anything you don't want shared - your address, 'Mental Health Services', 'Procotocolgy Dept', etc. but leave 'NHS', 'your appointment is at...', etc.
- Photocopy that & hand to your boss
- If your boss complains, tell him the relevant info is visible. If you're willing, offer to show the original to HR to confirm the copy is genuine.

Dunroamin

k12479 wrote: »

- Photocopy the letter
- Get a black marker
- Cross out anything you don't want shared - your address, 'Mental Health Services', 'Procotocolgy Dept', etc. but leave 'NHS', 'your appointment is at...', etc.
- Photocopy that & hand to your boss
- If your boss complains, tell him the relevant info is visible. If you're willing, offer to show the original to HR to confirm the copy is genuine.

I suggested that in post #2!

zzzLazyDaisy

Your alternative is to show your GP the letter, explain the situation, and ask the GP to write a letter to your employer confirming the appointment.

The downside is that your GP will (probably) charge you.

BobQ

noelphobic wrote: »

As I have already stated, I don't think the 'legal position' is black or white here, it is a grey area. Also I'm puzzled about the fact that you seem to know whether or not I'm pregnant - great diagnostic skills, considering the fact that you have never met me and don't even know whether I am male or female.

OP, there is nothing grey about this. You have a contract, terms and conditions etc that stipulate your contracted hours of attendance. If you choose not to attend without permission you are in breach of your contract, unless of course you have a statutory right to time off.

In these austere times, many employers are tightening up on their processes. Maybe 10 years ago they would have accepted your word on trust, but while you may not have abused this trust, some have done so.

Obviously if you believe that what "you think" is legally correct and what others have stated they know to be fact is wrong, then you are probably an employment lawyer and are wasting our time in asking for advice.

Mrs_Ryan

Just as an aside, I read on direct.gov.uk that if you have one of three conditions (cancer, or within five years of diagnosis even if in remission, HIV or MS) your employer must allow you time off for medical appointments specifically related to that condition so I dont think its just pregnancy where you are entitled to time off.
If OP is getting at what I think they are unfortuately it is easy to find out what the specialism is (I work for a particular specialist trust however my trust also owns non-specialism wards and departments) however these trsuts deal with a massive scope of problems so it could be absolutely anything within this speciality so I guess it would be difficult to guess the exact nature of the problem. I've had this problem before with a very nosy male boss when I was under a specific hospital that dealt with women's problems - my GP wrote me a letter but I did have to pay for it.

k12479

Dunroamin wrote: »

I suggested that in post #2!

You did, but there were then mutterings from the OP about the letter showing too much information (along with pages and pages seemingly over-complicating the issue).

miduck

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

Just as an aside, I read on direct.gov.uk that if you have one of three conditions (cancer, or within five years of diagnosis even if in remission, HIV or MS) your employer must allow you time off for medical appointments specifically related to that condition so I dont think its just pregnancy where you are entitled to time off.

That would come under the duty to make reasonable adjustments for those with a disability, not just the noted conditions (although they are covered by the EqAct). A failure to grant such an adjustment is likely to be discrimination, but there is nothing in law to state that it would be in all cases. Even in such cases, it would still seem reasonable that the employee provides evidence of the appt.