Anyone tried to get a Sick Note from GP lately?

[MontyVeda]

It's not just the sick note that pi$$ed me off when I rang my GP's practice... it's the sheer lack of advice regarding my road to recovery.

I can look online and the general advice is this...

It’s impossible to say exactly how quickly you’ll recover, but here’s an idea of what to expect:​

​

1 week​	your fever should be gone​
4 weeks​	your chest will feel better and you’ll produce less mucus​
6 weeks​	you’ll cough less and find it easier to breathe​
3 months​	most of your symptoms should be gone, though you may still feel tired​
6 months​	you should feel back to normal​

You’ll recover gradually. You can help by eating well and doing some exercise including deep breathing exercises.​

​

At first, you’ll need plenty of rest. As you begin to feel better, you can start to be a bit more active, but don’t push yourself too hard. Start off by getting out of bed and moving around for a few minutes each day. As your symptoms improve and you have more energy, you can increase your activity. Speak to your doctor about how much exercise you should do as you recover.​

...but that doesn't say when i can go back to work, or expect to. I want to talk to a doctor to ask things like, can i go out for a walk in the cold winter air? What about my swollen knee? Should i be walking on it? Does it want ice or heat? Compression bandages yes or no???

I'm feeling pi$$ed off that the receptionist on the phone just fobbed me right off when i started asking the above. Dread to think where I'd be if i spoke to the same one last week when i needed my initial appointment.

 

[vickster]

Ask for a telephone consult with the Dr, my practice actually allows one to book these online via Patient Access. If you can’t and the receptionist questions, just say it’s personal and you wish to discuss with a dr

 

[roadrash]

politely remind the receptionist that it is not there job to keep you from seeing the doctor , nor do you need to discuss your medical condition with them , register a complaint with the practice manager and expect a resolution in 24 hrs if not then look here..
How_to_raise_concerns_about_a_general_practice_0.pdf (ombudsman.org.uk)

 

[cougie uk]

thank for the other replies ... looks like my employer needs to catch up with recent changes.

although... what's so hard for a GP or hospital doctor to write a short note stating that i was in fact in hospital over Xmas with pneumonia?

I get that they're busy people but... two minutes?

I guess they'd need to look up your records, get the right form, make a record that they've issued you a note etc... It all takes time and in the middle of s pandemic it's hardly value adding stuff is it.

I'm sure you can think of tasks in your day job that others may think is just a two minute task but you know different.

 

[roadrash]

I guess they'd need to look up your records, get the right form, make a record that they've issued you a note etc... It all takes time and in the middle of s pandemic it's hardly value adding stuff is it.

I'm sure you can think of tasks in your day job that others may think is just a two minute task but you know different.

what has value adding stuff got to do with it , he didnt even get as far as speaking to a doctor, he didnt get past the jumped up jobsworth receptionist who would do well to remember what her actual job is, and before anyone jumps on me for saying that I AM NOT SAYING ALL DRs RECEPTIONIST ARE THE SAME. some actually know and do their job well

 

[classic33]

I guess they'd need to look up your records, get the right form, make a record that they've issued you a note etc... It all takes time and in the middle of s pandemic it's hardly value adding stuff is it.

I'm sure you can think of tasks in your day job that others may think is just a two minute task but you know different.

The sick note, if I've read right, is only half of what he needs.
The other half being where does he go from here, now he's out of hospital(Where everything would have been decided for him, treatment wise). There will be items that he can't get without seeing a doctor first, including medication. No doctor would be willing to prescribe something without first seeing the person. At the least, talking to them. It may just send them back into hospital, and they'd be looking for someone to blame. Been there, done that, and it's when it went wrong, things got done that should have been done before.

 

[midlife]

what has value adding stuff got to do with it , he didnt even get as far as speaking to a doctor, he didnt get past the jumped up jobsworth receptionist who would do well to remember what her actual job is, and before anyone jumps on me for saying that I AM NOT SAYING ALL DRs RECEPTIONIST ARE THE SAME. some actually know and do their job well

Rules say you can't get a sick (fit) note until 28 days...

 

[Arrowfoot]

Even with the change of regulations for the sick note, I will be concerned carrying on with this practice. Out of hospital and this sort of treatment!

 

[mustang1]

I had a weird experience the other day with my GP. She wanted to record the call "for training purposes" so I said "yeah sure no problem" so she called me back. She had to call me back a couple of times but her recording equipment still wasn't working so I told her to forget the recording and just get on with my health diagnosis. But she was really adamant that she wanted to record it but I told her "No."

She then asked for my height so I told her 1.85 metres. She kept going on about how she should record the call and I kept declining. Then she told me she is really needed to record the call because she wants to review the call after we hang up and that she cannot work with me giving her the height in metres. I continued to decline the recording and asked what unit of measurement she needed my height in. I kid you not, honest as honest gets, she told me "i need it in cm". "Yeah, that's 185cm".

Now I like riding downhills as much as the next cyclist, but when it comes to doctors, this phonecall was going distinctly downhill. I'd really like to put it down to her being flustered about wanting to record the call hence unable to calculate metres to centimetres, but I'm not entirely sure and left me rather doubtful when she gave further referals which I didn't want but after losing confidence in her, I just went ahead with it.

YEah so just move the decimal point. That feeling you get that calls are recorded for "training" purposes... puh!

 

[fossyant]

My recent annual health check was two texts, one for height one for weight. The NHS is a bit screwed up with this covid mess

 

[Drago]

I had a weird experience the other day with my GP. She wanted to record the call "for training purposes" so I said "yeah sure no problem" so she called me back. She had to call me back a couple of times but her recording equipment still wasn't working so I told her to forget the recording and just get on with my health diagnosis. But she was really adamant that she wanted to record it but I told her "No."

She then asked for my height so I told her 1.85 metres. She kept going on about how she should record the call and I kept declining. Then she told me she is really needed to record the call because she wants to review the call after we hang up and that she cannot work with me giving her the height in metres. I continued to decline the recording and asked what unit of measurement she needed my height in. I kid you not, honest as honest gets, she told me "i need it in cm". "Yeah, that's 185cm".

Now I like riding downhills as much as the next cyclist, but when it comes to doctors, this phonecall was going distinctly downhill. I'd really like to put it down to her being flustered about wanting to record the call hence unable to calculate metres to centimetres, but I'm not entirely sure and left me rather doubtful when she gave further referals which I didn't want but after losing confidence in her, I just went ahead with it.

YEah so just move the decimal point. That feeling you get that calls are recorded for "training" purposes... puh!

Blimey. I'd be wary of anyone who takes your life in their hands, yet who is so daft they can't move a decimal point 2 places to the right in their head.

I'm quite fortunate in a sense. Im registered as a carer, and the NHS appesr sheet scared that something might happen to me as a result. Stub my toe and Ill get a face to face appointment the morning/afternoon I ring in. I think the quickest was earlier this year when I was offered one in 25 minutes time - that was one of the rare occasionsnI hopped in the car instead of riding.

 

[Illaveago]

It's not just the sick note that pi$$ed me off when I rang my GP's practice... it's the sheer lack of advice regarding my road to recovery.

I can look online and the general advice is this...

It’s impossible to say exactly how quickly you’ll recover, but here’s an idea of what to expect:​

​

1 week​	your fever should be gone​
4 weeks​	your chest will feel better and you’ll produce less mucus​
6 weeks​	you’ll cough less and find it easier to breathe​
3 months​	most of your symptoms should be gone, though you may still feel tired​
6 months​	you should feel back to normal​

You’ll recover gradually. You can help by eating well and doing some exercise including deep breathing exercises.​

​

At first, you’ll need plenty of rest. As you begin to feel better, you can start to be a bit more active, but don’t push yourself too hard. Start off by getting out of bed and moving around for a few minutes each day. As your symptoms improve and you have more energy, you can increase your activity. Speak to your doctor about how much exercise you should do as you recover.​

...but that doesn't say when i can go back to work, or expect to. I want to talk to a doctor to ask things like, can i go out for a walk in the cold winter air? What about my swollen knee? Should i be walking on it? Does it want ice or heat? Compression bandages yes or no???

I'm feeling pi$$ed off that the receptionist on the phone just fobbed me right off when i started asking the above. Dread to think where I'd be if i spoke to the same one last week when i needed my initial appointment.

I had viral pneumonia back in 1990 around a similar time . I feel sorry for you .
I think I was in hospital for a week . I didn't eat much but drank a lot of squash so I lost over a stone .
It was ages before I felt up to doing much . I didn't know at the time that I was also suffering from panic attacks . It was almost 3 months before I went back to work .

 

[roadrash]

Rules say you can't get a sick (fit) note until 28 days...

rules dont say you cant speak to your doctor about your recovery and other issues which he also wanted to do !!

 

[MontyVeda]

I'd also like to give my employer some proof.

For all i know, they might be thinking I've made up a cock&bull story to get an extended break over Xmas and new year.... but maybe that's just paranoia creeping in on top of everything else. I certainly don't have form for pulling sickies. This is the 2nd time I've had sick leave in 6 years, the last being 2017 (and i didn't get any SSP for that).

 

[Alex321]

I'd also like to give my employer some proof.

For all i know, they might be thinking I've made up a cock&bull story to get an extended break over Xmas and new year.... but maybe that's just paranoia creeping in on top of everything else. I certainly don't have form for pulling sickies. This is the 2nd time I've had sick leave in 6 years, the last being 2017 (and i didn't get any SSP for that).

You just won't get that proof, I'm afraid.

No doctor is going to issue a sick note now until they know you are going to be unfit to work for more than the 28 days the rules now prescribe.

And AIUI, your employer is not allowed to ask for one until then either.