Skeptical but the current system is broken, Dr’s just sign you off work by default without really doing any follow ups.
anonnymouse2025 on
Dead people don’t fill in application forms, so…
How did we end up with another bunch of ableist cunts in power again?!
bureaucrat_chaos on
For anyone who cannot be bothered to read the article, they are piloting a couple of GP surgeries in the country to stop issuing fit notes with a new support programme, and piloting other GP surgeries issuing initial fit notes and using additional support. It’s not a current national policy.
Internal_Bluebird_23 on
I’m in favour of more social prescribing etc but given that at least one of these trials involves not issuing notes at all, a bit confused as to how this is going to work for the presumably millions of fit notes a year that fall under the category of ‘you have been sick for more than a week but are going to be alright soon due to treatment/natural course of a disease, so here’s some documentation for your employer’
Less-Guest6036 on
So it’s not that they’re being scrapped, it’s that the government has launched trials on alternates they may choose to replace the current system with. Being aimed more at support than just ‘can’t work’.
Which could be good or bad, depending on the support offered and if those genuinely unable to work for a limited time are pressured back or the support system takes that into account and better regulates a phased return to work once they’re able to do so.
TheDroolingFool on
I’m struggling to see the horror here.
At the moment the system seems to be go to the GP, say the correct sacred phrases, receive your golden ticket for another month off, then return in four weeks for the ceremonial re-stamping.
“Oh, you’ve been off for three months with stress and anxiety? Have you actually done anything about it? Any treatment? Any plan? Any adjustments discussed? Any idea how this improves?”
“No?”
“Lovely, here’s another month. Same time in June?”
If this means people are actually directed towards support, treatment, workplace adjustments, and a realistic plan rather than being left to drift for months, then frankly I don’t see the scandal.
CastleofWamdue on
I’ve been filling in for someone who’s been ill for the past year now.
She does want to come back , but the company is sure she isn’t up to it.
The Government might make it easier for her to come back, but it will only mean me returning to being on benefits.
Whilst I have no bad feelings towards her, she lives in the same society as me. One where governments , force people into jobs or off of sickness benefits.
After 12 months I’m more than ready to replace her.
the_real_deal_feel on
> Initially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers in four locations across England, the changes will see claimants referred to support services which will create personalised “return to work” plans for them.
Good idea.
ghost31x on
So the plan is nobody can be sick if we don’t give them sick notes, that sounds like it’s going to work. What it will lead to is an awful lot more people claiming universal credit because they’ve been sacked for being off work with out a sick note.
ICutDownTrees on
9 out of 10 sick notes (fit notes) say the person is u fit for work, yeah no shit, you only get them when you are not fit to work. And with the current system you don’t have to specifically get one to return to work when the last one expires you are co soldered fit to work, so even less reason to get one that says you are fit to work
FlyingRo on
Fit notes by any measure are broken, doctors just sign them to avoid being hassled or threatened by patients. They’re a waste of doctor’s time and don’t separate real illness from malingering.
Sensible people can disagree on what we should replace them with to create a fair system, but the current system of tickbox fit notes is no better than self-certification.
rain3h on
100+ billion to get to Birmingham 30mins faster.
This is fine.
Supporting those in need?
Pitchforks.
How a society helps those in need is a measure of that society.
Thatweasel on
if they put half the effort they do into these schemes to “get people back to work” into collecting corporate taxes and plugging avoidance loopholes we’d wipe out the national debt in a few years.
Tooexforbee on
Led by non-clinical staff whose jobs and bonuses will depend on ignoring your medical symptoms/diagnosis because billionaire cunts would rather you’re making money for them.
AcknowledgeablePie on
This doesn’t seem to account at all for people who have “normal” sickness. Aka sick but will get better soon and don’t need to be hassled into work?! I had cancer and got a fit note for my op and then chemo. I went back to work in between treatments and then finally went back part time after it was all finished. I really don’t understand how referring me to some service would have done anything except make a very stressful situation worse??
DarthAnusCavity on
So if you have cancer and need a sick note for some time off you now need some woefully unqualified person to give you a plan to get back into work. 😂
Step one: beat cancer
Step two: work till you die
This country is fucked.
PinacoladaBunny on
I know it’s only surface level reporting but I genuinely don’t understand how this will work. For some areas, they won’t get a ‘fit note’ at all – so does that mean no official sick leave for that person, regardless of how unwell they are?
I also don’t know what any of those referrals are going to do for people with chronic or serious illnesses. I was off for 5 months last year with an ME crash, I spent the vast majority of it confined to bed unable to function. My own GP said it was too complex for them to help me, and all they could do was provide sick notes for as long as I needed. Equally my husband has severe autoimmune disease and MS, sometimes he just needs to be off work due to flare ups. Clinical staff can’t help us, let alone non-clinical… it’d be another waiting list and waste of everyone’s time, surely?!
ihavetakenthebiscuit on
Why can’t I see the comments when i click this post?
WinHour4300 on
“Sick notes” have already being scrapped and were replaced with “Fit notes”.
The idea being the focus should be on what someone can do not what they can’t.
19 Comments
Skeptical but the current system is broken, Dr’s just sign you off work by default without really doing any follow ups.
Dead people don’t fill in application forms, so…
How did we end up with another bunch of ableist cunts in power again?!
For anyone who cannot be bothered to read the article, they are piloting a couple of GP surgeries in the country to stop issuing fit notes with a new support programme, and piloting other GP surgeries issuing initial fit notes and using additional support. It’s not a current national policy.
I’m in favour of more social prescribing etc but given that at least one of these trials involves not issuing notes at all, a bit confused as to how this is going to work for the presumably millions of fit notes a year that fall under the category of ‘you have been sick for more than a week but are going to be alright soon due to treatment/natural course of a disease, so here’s some documentation for your employer’
So it’s not that they’re being scrapped, it’s that the government has launched trials on alternates they may choose to replace the current system with. Being aimed more at support than just ‘can’t work’.
Which could be good or bad, depending on the support offered and if those genuinely unable to work for a limited time are pressured back or the support system takes that into account and better regulates a phased return to work once they’re able to do so.
I’m struggling to see the horror here.
At the moment the system seems to be go to the GP, say the correct sacred phrases, receive your golden ticket for another month off, then return in four weeks for the ceremonial re-stamping.
“Oh, you’ve been off for three months with stress and anxiety? Have you actually done anything about it? Any treatment? Any plan? Any adjustments discussed? Any idea how this improves?”
“No?”
“Lovely, here’s another month. Same time in June?”
If this means people are actually directed towards support, treatment, workplace adjustments, and a realistic plan rather than being left to drift for months, then frankly I don’t see the scandal.
I’ve been filling in for someone who’s been ill for the past year now.
She does want to come back , but the company is sure she isn’t up to it.
The Government might make it easier for her to come back, but it will only mean me returning to being on benefits.
Whilst I have no bad feelings towards her, she lives in the same society as me. One where governments , force people into jobs or off of sickness benefits.
After 12 months I’m more than ready to replace her.
> Initially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers in four locations across England, the changes will see claimants referred to support services which will create personalised “return to work” plans for them.
Good idea.
So the plan is nobody can be sick if we don’t give them sick notes, that sounds like it’s going to work. What it will lead to is an awful lot more people claiming universal credit because they’ve been sacked for being off work with out a sick note.
9 out of 10 sick notes (fit notes) say the person is u fit for work, yeah no shit, you only get them when you are not fit to work. And with the current system you don’t have to specifically get one to return to work when the last one expires you are co soldered fit to work, so even less reason to get one that says you are fit to work
Fit notes by any measure are broken, doctors just sign them to avoid being hassled or threatened by patients. They’re a waste of doctor’s time and don’t separate real illness from malingering.
Sensible people can disagree on what we should replace them with to create a fair system, but the current system of tickbox fit notes is no better than self-certification.
100+ billion to get to Birmingham 30mins faster.
This is fine.
Supporting those in need?
Pitchforks.
How a society helps those in need is a measure of that society.
if they put half the effort they do into these schemes to “get people back to work” into collecting corporate taxes and plugging avoidance loopholes we’d wipe out the national debt in a few years.
Led by non-clinical staff whose jobs and bonuses will depend on ignoring your medical symptoms/diagnosis because billionaire cunts would rather you’re making money for them.
This doesn’t seem to account at all for people who have “normal” sickness. Aka sick but will get better soon and don’t need to be hassled into work?! I had cancer and got a fit note for my op and then chemo. I went back to work in between treatments and then finally went back part time after it was all finished. I really don’t understand how referring me to some service would have done anything except make a very stressful situation worse??
So if you have cancer and need a sick note for some time off you now need some woefully unqualified person to give you a plan to get back into work. 😂
Step one: beat cancer
Step two: work till you die
This country is fucked.
I know it’s only surface level reporting but I genuinely don’t understand how this will work. For some areas, they won’t get a ‘fit note’ at all – so does that mean no official sick leave for that person, regardless of how unwell they are?
I also don’t know what any of those referrals are going to do for people with chronic or serious illnesses. I was off for 5 months last year with an ME crash, I spent the vast majority of it confined to bed unable to function. My own GP said it was too complex for them to help me, and all they could do was provide sick notes for as long as I needed. Equally my husband has severe autoimmune disease and MS, sometimes he just needs to be off work due to flare ups. Clinical staff can’t help us, let alone non-clinical… it’d be another waiting list and waste of everyone’s time, surely?!
Why can’t I see the comments when i click this post?
“Sick notes” have already being scrapped and were replaced with “Fit notes”.
The idea being the focus should be on what someone can do not what they can’t.