Work demanding Dr's note for 1 day off

Tiddlywinks

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I accept that.

I might write to my MP though about this one. The employer could easily write a policy that has the same effect they desire without placing yet another unnecessary burden on the NHS, and perhaps in an ideal future they will have to.

Hmm - I know how that one will pan out.

Given that this same policy is applied in quite a few public sector agencies, I very much doubt - in these days of austerity - that an MP would wish to pursue this with any gusto.

SeduLOUs

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Hmm - I know how that one will pan out.

Given that this same policy is applied in quite a few public sector agencies, I very much doubt - in these days of austerity - that an MP would wish to pursue this with any gusto.

You're probably right, but I can hardly sit about and complain about the situation if not willing to try and do something about it!

Nicki

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I doubt you realise just how overloaded GP practices already are. I appreciate that a private fee would be paid 'for the service' but it doesn't change the fact that an appointment slot or admin time has been used which inevitably results in less available 'NHS' appointments for the people who need them.

GPs do not want to work any more overtime as they are already massively overworked, and the cost of a locum GP to help pick up the slack usually costs substantially more than the private fees charged for typing letters.

Some 'private' services are inevitable and necessary, but a 1 day sicknote for an employer is not. The employer could very write sickness policy that avoids this, and have the same effect they desire without wasting GP time i.e. by not paying contractual sick pay for the first 3 days of absence.

My friends who are GPs (I have several who are all in different surgeries by the way) have a fixed number of appointments per week when they see patients, a certain number of hours when they are the duty doctor for emergency patients, and a set number of timetabled hours for paperwork which includes privately paid work.

I think you are assuming that GPs surgeries are like hospitals. They are not. GPs have NHS contracts which pay for a certain level of service but this is only one source of revenue for the practice, albeit usually the largest one. They are completely at liberty to do as much work privately as they would like, and most do.

However, do knock yourself out writing to your MP about the waste of NHS time if you would like. Just be prepared to have your MP also explain this to you.

Nicki

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I doubt you realise just how overloaded GP practices already are.

Living in Central London, where GPs have thousands of patients on their lists and having a child with serious disabilities which means I see the GP several times a year, I may have a reasonable idea as to workload by the way. That doesn't effect what I have said about how their time is timetabled.