Taxi Driver Online

"Fit notes" replace sick notes to keep patients working

Subject

EMPLOYMENT - HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

Keywords

EMPLOYEES : GENERAL PRACTITIONERS : SICK LEAVE

Source

Times, November 26, 2008, 5

Author

Bennett, Rosemary

Date

Nov 26, 2008 [/b]

Traditional sick notes are to be replaced with "fit notes" to help differentiate between the genuinely ill and those who do not want to work. Under the plans, minsters hope to reduce the number of people claiming long-term sickness benefits to 1.6 million from 2.6 million by 2015.

The new "fitness notes" will state what work a person could undertake and suggest how responsibilities could be rearranged to get the patient back to work. Although tentatively welcoming the plans, doctors' groups want to pilot the new system to ensure doctors remain advocates for patients and do not become a supervisory part of the Government.
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Absolutely Brilliant...now Instead of the Doctor saying your Sick by simply saying your sick they now have to Check all the Fit folk in Britain to Eliminate the Fit by giving them Fit notes Thus leaving all those that Cannot get a Fit note to be classified as sick whilst in turn leaving them the right to claim Unfitness Benefit rather than sickness Benifits.

This should save the State Zero £'s in Paying the terminally workshy...but Increase by Billions of £'s the Extra Medical appraisals for the cost of thinning out the Fit to leave only the sick.

How very Logical...why Didnt I Think of that

No the doctors don't have to check the fit people. When some one goes to the doctor to claim they are sick, the doctor will have to say what work they are unfit for and what work they are fit for.

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Grandad,

If these certificates get some of those lazy buggers back to work then great.

Especially councils workers suffering stress. Stress FFS.

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IDFIMH

Stress, now that is a realy good one. Stress may make you unfit to carry out your normal type of employment but stacking a few shelves at Tesco could be seen as very theraputic to a stressed out council worker.

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Grandad,

Does the poor old Hard pressed Doctor have to name every single job they cannot do, cos that could run into hundreds of thousands of Jobs ranging from Astronaut to Sub atomic partical inspector....or does he pull a few random "can do" jobs out of hat....all this when some poor old granny is sitting in the waiting room choking to death on a set of broken dentures....

Bloody daft Idea...better to say "unfit for work" in the first place!!