Well note system has fundamental flaw

A law firm is warning of a fundamental flaw in the proposals to introduce 'well notes' in place of the current 'sick note' system.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson is urging GPs to issue well notes outlining the tasks a worker can perform, instead of certificates signing them off all work.

Social Security rules state that GPs must give an accurate diagnosis of the patient's disorder, which has led them to advise the patient to refrain from work; they also state there are times when GPs can refrain from giving a true diagnosis if they feel it is not in their patient's interest to do so.

Brian Rogers, operations director, at law firm Lewis Hymanson Small says the rules need to be overhauled:

If doctors use this opt-out, and they do, how can employers be sure that what is on the sick note is the true reason for the employee's absence and take the appropriate action to try and help them? Surely any system falls apart when it allows the truth to be withheld?

The opt-out wasn't designed to mislead employers but it has been adopted by some doctors as a way of protecting their patients from what they may see as unscrupulous employers who may react negatively if given the true reason for the absence. Surely the Employment Rights Act and other employment legislation is supposed to protect employees from employers who discriminate? It should not be the job of doctors to do this.