Backdated fit note from GP?

LunaLovegood

I didn't ask for a specific doctor. The one I usually go to retired a few months ago anyway. I even asked if there was a locum doctor or something I could see but she said there wasn't.

Was just speaking to my mum about it and she actually found out they are only booking appts from 9-10.40 am and 3-4.40pm. Closed 2 hours for lunch as well. Any wonder its 4 weeks to see someone.

TELLIT01

Sadly LunaLovegood's experience isn't unique. At my surgery you can generally be seen on the day for urgent issues but you are expected tell the receptionist the general nature of the problem in order that they can confirm it is genuinely urgent! As they aren't medically trained I think that's a damn cheek.
If you want to see the nurse the wait is nearly a month. Despite my wife's GP saying he wanted urgent blood tests done, it was still over 3 weeks until she got an appointment. The receptionists also tried to say that she couldn't make an appointment to see the GP to discuss the results until after she'd had the blood tests done. My wife did stand her ground and managed to make an appoint for 10 days after the bloods were taken!
I had a similar issue where the GP said I needed to get work done by the nurse. He was insistent that appointments were available in a couple of days but said I had to make the appointment at reception when I left. Again 3 weeks for the appointment.

FBaby

Is there a walk in centre within driving distance you could go to?

Malthusian

Not sure where the "hard to believe" thing is coming from. My girlfriend recently had to wait six weeks for a GP appointment.

If the receptionist says "I can give you an appointment in three weeks, but if it's urgent, we can see you today" then everyone is going to say yes it's urgent. Or at least, that is what they assume.

Free, universal, high-quality, pick any two.

swingaloo

Our surgery do not backdate notes under any circumstances.

pioneer22

LunaLovegood wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking for some advice. I have been off sick for 2 days- various issues (IBS, migraines, insomnia, psoriasis, sickness- all I believe linked to high levels of stress in work)..I really need to speak to my GP about it all, but cannot get an appointment until 16th June :eek:

I can only self cert until next week at which point my employers will want a fit note if I don't return. I explained this to the receptionist & she said my employers have to accept back dated fit notes because of 'the way things are' (in the NHS) but how does she know if the Dr will actually say I was unfit for work? I also don't know how pleased my employers will be with having to wait for it- and then what if the Dr says in their opinion I was fit to work!? (I can't see this happening in the state I am in but even so)

Does anyone know if it's true employers have to accept back dated notes? I can't find anything online.

You should be able to get an emergency appointment, or failing that an appointment at another GP practice.

Failing that an NHS walk in centre or minor injuries unit.

What area do you live in?

surreysaver

Is it really any wonder people go to A&E when they shouldn't? You should just be able to rock up at any GP surgery and register as a temporary patient.

w06

unless hte rules have changed significantly your GP won't be able to give you a sicknote dated to a period when they hadn't assessed you. If they agree that you're not fit to work they'll only be able to issue the sicknote from the date of your appointment.

MonkeyDr

LunaLovegood wrote: »

Was just speaking to my mum about it and she actually found out they are only booking appts from 9-10.40 am and 3-4.40pm. Closed 2 hours for lunch as well. Any wonder its 4 weeks to see someone.

I am not a GP, but would like to clarify why this is, in case people find it useful. I am not sure if I have read the tone correctly, so apologies in advance if I am being over defensive of my colleagues.

I am a patient (and a parent, and have elderly relatives, and friends / family with chronic diseases etc etc), so I appreciate as much as everyone else how difficult it can be to get timely GP appointments.

GP practices are increasingly under-resourced and under-funded. The workload is so intolerable that too many qualified doctors don't want to be GPs (I certainly don't), even though that is what we need.

The surgery doesn't have a late start and an early finish, and isn't closed for 2 hours at lunch, they are just limited in the time they can see patients. Direct patient contact time is the tip of an iceberg of what needs doing, unfortunately.

Writing up notes, home visits, telephone consultations, urgent admission referrals, clinic referral letters, doing repeat prescriptions, checking results, acting on abnormal results (including contacting patients), ordering further tests and scans, reading letters from other healthcare professionals about patients and acting as needed, looking into complaints, liaising with palliative care teams, death certifications...

Plus the indirect stuff: managing staffing issues, rotas, audits, quality assessments, budget planning, contract issues, premises management etc etc.

And it's nice to be able to actually have some time to think about difficult cases, discuss with colleagues, look things up, keep professional knowledge up to date etc. In fact, CPD (continuous professional development) is mandatory.

GPs I know all work ridiculous hours and are looking for escape routes, or at least some diversification, as it is unsustainable in the long-term.

Please don't blame your GP if you can't get an appointment. Blame their (lack of) funding. On the other hand, people who need seeing urgently should always be seen in a timely manner. There has to be an element of triage to this, as some people are truly ridiculous about what constitutes urgent.

OP, I suspect you are not quite getting across that things have reached a crisis point for you such that you can't go to work, and possibly they are just hearing from you that you are having ongoing symptoms with your chronic illnesses (which in itself shouldn't merit an urgent appointment).

Good luck, and I hope you feel better soon.

LunaLovegood

I don't for one minute think they are sitting with their feet up while they are not taking appointments. I know the NHS is on its a*se & that my GP office is not to blame directly. I was merely commenting that with only taking roughly 3 hours of appointments a day with only 2-3 doctors in the place, it's no wonder it's a 4 week wait and I question the safety of being so short staffed especially when it comes to urgent cases. I am not blaming the GP's themselves.

I am annoyed however that as someone who only goes to a doctor maybe once a year, if even, that now when I really need to see someone I'm being told its 4 weeks wait- it would be fine if I wasn't working & could just sit at home waiting while still getting benefits etc to live on, but as I am employed, it is affecting my ability to work and now I'm going to run into trouble with my employer for potentially not getting a line in place & don't know what will happen with my pay- I'm being told on here that there is no way a doctor will backdate a sicknote, I can't see my employers accepting it anyway even if he did, meaning I now have the added stress of trying to prove I am stressed!!

We have out of hours doctors here but I really don't see that being an appropiate avenue. I doubt they do sick notes either. I'm going to ring the doctors again on Tuesday & tell them I cannot wait nearly another 3 weeks being the way I am & need to be seen that day.