dear All
Why not ask the GP for release of medical information i.e. copies of the
medical records with consent rather than a GP report ,which will only
reiterate the GP'S current opinion linked to his duty as patient's advocate
too.
Factual information from direct photocopies are far better in forming an
independent opinion(i.e. yours) than getting a report in these circumstances
Dr Anthony Hughes
----- Original Message -----
From: "N. Rostami" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: [OCC-HEALTH] Sickness absence
> Pete,
> I would like to give the benefit of doubt to the GP who has most likely
> based his opinion and advice on the symptoms that this gentleman has
> presented to him. It is possible for such symptoms to have a sudden onset,
> meaning, if he didn't report them at his first visit to his GP, maybe he
> did
> so at his second visit!
> Do you really think that it is best to spend one's energy trying to prove
> that this gentleman is really only suffering from a fabricated stress or
> would you say that you would look at other avenues and options of
> resolving
> this for both sides. By the time you set out to witch hunt, it will be six
> months and this gentleman will probably miraculously recover from his
> symptoms and ready to return to work!
> What the employer is suffering from at this point is that it appears to
> have
> lost face and feels that their authority has been undermined by an
> employee
> who has been clever in playing the system. Maybe, this can be a lesson for
> future to look closely at people's requests and reasons as to why they
> can't
> attend work and thus considering policies on sabbaticals. Meanwhile, the
> employer is also likely to be losing valuable time managing this case and
> valuable money paying out for Sick pay, not to mention the OH costs. Also,
> this saga( watched closely by the rest of the workforce) is creating a
> negative impact on the ethos of the work place. Although, there is the
> other
> matter of the confidentiality of individual cases.i.e. no one else at work
> should be aware of what is really going on with this gentleman!
> The employee has played foul but has found the loophole! However, if given
> the choice he would probably prefer to minimise his liability and any
> future
> friction with the management and thus he may be willing to sit down and
> discuss the option of the sabbatical as a way out of this mess. In my
> experience, sometimes the management who have passed on these types of
> problems to OH , and whilst the OH is doing their very best to follow the
> right procedures and principles in bringing the employee back to work
> asap,
> suddenly, out of the blue, they strike a deal with the employee and all
> OH's hard work turns out to be futile...I agree that GPs can be challenged
> but I would chose by battles very carefully as for instance in this case ,
> this employee does not want to return to work yet.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf
> Of Peter Judge
> Sent: 15 February 2007 11:21
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [OCC-HEALTH] Sickness absence
>
> Whooaa Sue
>
> Point 2 - since when was anybody on thin ice for questioning a doctor, NO
> apologies to anyone from
> this profession but they are not gods, do get things wrong, evident in
> this
> case and it does not
> take another doctor to point this out to them.
>
> Med 3's are opinions and no more than that, anyone can question someones
> opinion, particularly in
> this case as the GP if it is the same one who previously one week before
> declared him fit to work is
> now behaving in a less than ethical manner and the phrase "fraudulent
> claim"
> springs to mind as does
> aiding and abetting. HR or Line management could happily question the GP
> regarding this med 3, it
> does not have to be the domain of the OH practitioner.
>
> You might wish to get a OHP opinion but it should not be because you feel
> you cannot question
> someones opinion, rather that in this case you do not trust that persons
> opinion as you have very
> good reason to question the ethics and morals of it.
>
> Cheers
>
> Pete
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>>> Sue Morley <[log in to unmask]> 15/02/2007 10:41 >>>
> Difficult situation.
> Few thoughts. 1) What does the companies S/A policy say. 2) Refer to an
> OHP
> with MFOM. They can
> question a GP cert where as OHA's are on thinner ice. 3) Get personnel/HR
> seek the advice of an
> employment lawyer, he is after all effectively holding the company to
> ransom
> unless medical opinion
> (MFOM) supports his ill health claims.4) It is bizarre for a GP to sign
> fit
> one week only to change
> his mind the next, did he perhaps see a different GP in the practice? 4)
> Does the company have a
> flexible working/family friendly policy etc that would cover his request
> for
> a sabbatical. 5) In my
> experience GP's reports can be notorious for what they don't say (sorry
> all
> those GP's out there) in
> cases like this. 6) the company does not have to accommodate long term
> sickness absence if this is
> what it turns into, especially in the light of the denied request. Hence
> the
> need for employment
> legal advice.
> My gut feeling is get a medical opinion from a MFOM it will be worth it in
> the long run and then
> hand back to personnel as it then becomes a management issue.
> Sue
> _____
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf
> Of Harrison-Stone,
> SueSent: 15 February 2007 09:27To: [log in to unmask]:
> [OCC-HEALTH] Sickness absence
>
> Dear All
>
> One of our engineers requested 6mths sabbatical to get married, do up his
> house ready for his new
> wife AND to set up his own central heating business. He said that if his
> business failed he would
> still have a job to return to after the 6mths. He is well known for
> running
> his business from work
> booking appts etc for out of work time. Half the factory seems to use his
> services. He was
> disciplined for using company time to arrange appts but that was a year
> ago
> so from the point of
> moving to the second stage of disciplining that has now lapsed.
>
> His sabbatical request was not granted. A week later he went off sick
> with
> work related stress.
> At a meeting he said he felt undervalued, tired and had abdominal pain.
> He
> also said he didn't like
> his Dept. manager but in practise he reported into a line manager and
> rarely
> had any dealings with
> the Dept. manager. He said that he had said to the L/M a week before he
> went off sick that he was
> stressed but the L/M has no record of that and in fact says the chap had
> asked for more work!
>
> He then sent in another request for sabbatical leave based this time on
> his
> stress would take
> 4-6mths to recover from as he was so ill. He is not on any treatment for
> anything. He has been
> offered a change of job too. I wrote to his GP with the grudging
> permission
> of the employee. I
> asked the usual question of the GP but also expressing concern that if he
> was so ill should he have
> treatment, did the GP know about the two requests for sabbaticals and the
> request for more work and
> that he did not report into the manager he allegedly had problems with. I
> also said we would offer
> him a different job and a RTW programme. GP signed him back to work!
> Great!
> No! The day before he
> was due back to work he went to the GP with stress, abdominal pain and now
> hypertension result
> signed off sick for 2wks on beta blockers. GP says he is stressed. No
> matter what time of day we
> call this man is never at home. Should have been back today but now is
> signed off sick again
> because he had a 'reaction to his medication. Gp's letter did not
> acknowledge any of my concerns
> including whether the tiredness could be due to the fact he works f/t here
> then does out off work
> job repairing central heating. His wedding is now three wks away and he
> has
> 4wks holiday
> provisionally booked as A/L for that. As he is so well known in the
> factory
> all the workforce are
> looking to see how long he can stay away!
>
> Any suggestions please?
>
> Sorry about the length of the email!
>
> Sue
>
>
>
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