Sick/Fit Notes
Please remember that you do not legally need a sick note unless you have been off for more than seven days (including the days you normally do not work). The fit note allows us to give you more information on how your condition affects your ability to work. This will help your employer to understand how they might help you return to work sooner or stay in work. This on its own is clearly not an urgent medical problem. If you use up an urgent appointment for a note it cannot be offered to someone else who is unwell.
If you’ve been off sick for more than 7 days you can request a sick/fit note in the following ways:
Online through this website
You can request an appointment online using our Accurx form. We will get back to you as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours during opening hours. Please note that this service is for non-urgent queries only. Alternatively you can call us, or pop into reception.
Click to complete an Accurx form > Contact us about your request - Accurx Patient Portal
Request by telephone or in person
If you do not have access to online facilities, or prefer to speak to a member of our Patients Services Team, then please contact us by telephone on 01904 608224 or pop into reception. The same Accurx form will need completing by a member of our Patient Services Team so please be aware that that they may ask you sensitive questions to ensure the Accurx form is completed thoroughly.
Non-urgent advice: Who can Sign a Sick/Fit Note?
From July 2022, fit notes can be certified and issued by nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, as well as doctors, and no longer require to be signed.
Sick notes can only be issued when they are due, although they can be back dated they cannot be future dated. Please do not request emergency appointments for a Sick/Fit note.
Self-certificate
If you have been sick for more than four days in a row, but less than seven, you can self–certify your illness using a SC2 form. You can obtain this form from your employer or the HMRC website. If you are unwell for more than four days you are advised to contact the surgery to assess your fitness to work.
More than seven days off sick
If you’re off work sick for more than seven days your employer will normally ask for a Fit Note (or Statement of Fitness for Work) from your GP or Hospital Doctor.
How to count sick days
When you work out the number of days that you’ve been sick, you need to count all the days in a row you’ve been sick, including days you don’t normally work such as weekends and bank holidays.
Statement of Fitness to work
he Doctor will provide you with a Statement of Fitness for Work (‘Fit Note’) if you are still not well enough to work. Your employer will most likely request this statement as evidence to support payment of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Further information is available at the Direct.Gov website.
When do I need a Fit note
The NHS information website provides further details about Sick/Fit notes
Child off school
When your child is off school or nursery with a sickness it can be extremely confusing knowing how long to keep your child off for.
The Health Protection Agency has produced guidelines to help you know when it is safe for you to let your child go back to school or nursery.
Guidance notes on infection control in schools and other childcare settings
Examinations and sickness certificates
It should be noted that GPs do not provide sick notes for school children. When children are absent from school owing to illness, schools may request a letter from a parent or guardian, and this is no different during an exam period. However, children who have missed exams due to illness are frequently told by schools that a note from a doctor is required; but this cannot be provided by a GP.
Aside from the fact that parents/guardians are responsible for excusing their children from school, GPs cannot provide retrospective sickness certification.
When a child suffers from a long-term condition, any certification will be provided by the responsible specialist.
General Practitioners Committee (GPC) has sought and received confirmation from the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator that Awarding Organisations make no requirement for pupils to obtain a medical certificate in support of their application for special consideration. Students are asked for information in support of their application, but this may take the form of a statement by the school. The Joint Council for Qualifications has confirmed that as far as they are concerned, if a student was absent from an examination as a result of illness and has the support of the school or centre to be absent, special consideration will be granted on that basis. Awarding organisations do not insist that medical proof is provided.
Private Certificates
If you or your employer require further information concerning your period(s) of illness , then your Doctor may require to issue you with a letter. Please note that a charge may apply for this service. Please check with our Reception Desk.