Should I give consent to access medical reports

Fleago

Just to wish you luck tomorrow, RBK. Hope all goes well at your appointments and that you'll soon back at work.

Let us know how it goes.

Fleago

Luvly.cuppa.T

Hi RBK, just found your posts today , although I admit I did not read all of them!
I want to say I hope all goes well, and that truely I am shocked that the manager has acted in such a way. How dare she ask to see your arms in the first place!! It is your right to wear a cardigan, I assume, and if you are not bearing your marks then all is well.
Pftt. I am really peed off for you! In addition it can be psychologically undermining when a manager acts in this way.
I would actually say that there is a form of bullying going on, even if manager thinks she is 'looking' after you. But no way should be talking to other staff about your situation at all, like Savvy Sue said.
A lot of people don't understand self harm, and there may be a sense of fear from your manager too, and this could be why she acted in this way.
Tish. I am still mad. I don't self harm myself, but have a couple of mates who either have done, and one still does, when things are bad. So I have some understanding and I also believe that one doesn't tend to self harm in front of others..... so what is the bloody problem? Yes I know it's not considered healthy, or the typical norm, but turning to drink is another way of reacting to a bad situation- should employees be seeing doctors about that?
If you turn up to work (okay, so there are reasons why you don't but I believe that they are tied in with your mental health as you have already discussed) , do your job well and there are no problems on that front, then I cannot see why they are throwing you to the docs again and questionning your ability to work there unsupervised etc.
They really know how to bring a person down, don't they?
Good luck honey- and apologies for my vent.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Thank you all for your supportive messages. It really means a lot to me.

I can't put in words myself just how angry and upsetting this situation is. I think you guys have summed it up though and I'm glad you can see where I'm coming from re: this matter.

I attended my appointment with my social worker and psychiatrist today. It went OK and it's nice to know that they are supportive of me. I asked my psychiatrist directly whether she believed I was fit to work and she said yes. Both agreed they would fax a letter to HR stating this. I passed this information on to my manager who contacted HR and HR are still saying they want to know what their own OH Doctor has to say :mad: I'm really annoyed because on Wednesday the area manager said if I could get a letter from a healthcare professional stating I was OK to work then I could return straight away. Why do they keep changing their minds and telling me different things!!! :mad:

I will attend the appointment this afternoon but apparently they won't be able to give me a definite answer either way today.

Savvy_Sue

You may get to the stage where you have a raise a greivance. Your company must have a greivance procedure, I'd find out what it is.

I still find it unbelievable. When I was managing a team we had one colleague off for regular health appointments, I didn't know what the problem was, and I didn't ask, just said they could tell me if ever they wanted to. Which they never did. When anyone else made any comment, I just said it wasn't something to be discussed.

This person never came out for team lunches, and always offered to give cover in the office while we went out eg for Christmas lunch. But I never assumed that they wouldn't come out, and always waited for them to offer, and then checked they were sure. If they hadn't offered, I'd have stayed in myself.

To this day I don't know if it was an eating disorder or a physical illness - and why would I need to? They were a darned good worker!

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Savvy_Sue from what you've said it sounds like you were a good manager and dealt with the situation very well

Just to update. I attended the appointment on Friday afternoon. The Doctor was lovely. We talked briefly about self-harm and how there was a difference between self-harming to cope with feelings e.t.c and self-harming to kill yourself. When I told him that my manager made me show her my arms he was like 'no no no that isn't helpful' or words to that effect. He doesn't think I'm 100% but OK to be working. He doesn't believe that work is a problem i.e that it adds to my depression or anything to which I agreed. However, he did question as to whether working 6 days a week was good for me. He asked to see me in 3 months time.

I am now waiting for work to receive the report. According to HR if everything is OK with the report I can look at returning to work on Wednesday.

dmg24

That sounds a lot more positive rbk, it is good when you get a doctor who actually understands your condition.

Let us know what HR say ... I think you deserve an apology, and that they could do with some MH awareness training x

Fleago

Very pleased to hear it went well for you RBK! Dmg's right, you deserve an apology from your work and that they need some training. Hope you get back on Wednesday!

Fleago

G-G_4

Just wanted to say good luck.. I honestly don't know anything about self harming or overdoses.. but I do think you are trying your best to make your job work and this is admirable in the least.. x

I do hope it works out for you, and never stop trying.. x

sorry I couldn't be more helpful, I just wanted to show my support

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Thank you all for such lovely replies. I've said it before but it really means a lot to me to have the support. I will let you know what happens.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Just to update. I returned to work today. I received an apology from my manager (I think she was told off for what she did). She realises what she did was wrong but said she did not do it with the intention of causing me any upset. Hopefully she has learnt a lesson from this situation.

It's been suggested that I reduce my hours for a few months (Occupational health have apparently suggested this). I currently work 41.5 hours.

The area manager was supposed to be coming in to see me today but he never appeared. Also the HR lady told my manager that she was going to come in at some point to speak with my manager and myself.

That's about all that happened. I was extremely nervous about going back today but it wasn't too bad. I still feel a little uneasy about working there which seems silly because I've worked there for 6 years! I will take each day as it comes and just hope that it gets easier.

Thanks again for your support.