Dr won’t issue a fit note - how normal is this?

[anonname]

I’m a student at university doing a healthcare degree . Been signed off due to ill health from Jan 19-Jan 20. Uni are requesting a medical certificate to prove I’m fit to return - or not .

When I phoned GP surgery asking if they could provide a fit note proving I’m not fit to return (waiting to see MH team plus waiting for surgery and tests) , they said no - they want my lecturer to write to them personally, and then they want me to sign a form releasing my medical records to my lecturer who can then decide from there if she thinks I’m unfit to return .

I’ve been on the phone to university students union all morning who’ve said this is absurd policy, not to allow my lecturer any access to my notes at all and to ask the hospital mental health team to write me a letter instead . They’ve also got their disability office to write me a letter too .

I’ve been on phone two hours now or so trying to sort it all out and shattered ! I’ve never come across that problem before and this is my second degree, even when working didn’t have problems getting sick lines . Not sure if it’s normal and I’m in the wrong for asking ?

Very normal not to issue a fit note. The Med3 forms you get for sickness are designed to indicate you can go back after the period stated without further communication from your GP.

Did you have a Med3 originally or was it a letter?

The medical records request route will be time consuming (up to 28 days) and costly.

A letter should suffice and is likely to cost £20-£30, unless whether you are well enough to return is a matter of some debate, in which case you probably can't avoid the records route.

I'm shocked anyone thinks it's reasonable to expect you to release your medical records in order to get time of work/studies.

You seem to be asking quite a way in advance for your GP to certify you OP, if the note isn't required until January. I can see their point about waiting until nearer the time and until after your upcoming tests/surgery - do you have a date for those and are they connected to the reason you are off?

Was it definitely the Lecturer the GP proposed giving access to, that seems odd - perhaps Student Health or the support services at Uni but not one Lecturer unless they are your pastoral support (even then proceed with caution).

Who in the Uni has requested the certification from the GP? Are you due to take exams next year?

A fit note is designed for a work situation, not for studying.

NHS Fit Notes are to certify people unfit to work.

The NHS does not provide a service for certifying people unfit to study.

If your university won't accept your own statement that you are unfit to study, different options are seeing a private doctor for an assessment, or your university making the decision.

Really? Both when I was at university and when I was a Lecturer, fit/sick notes were used as evidence that students needed time away from their studies due to illness.

I would expect to have to wait until current fit note expires or a few day prior to the last end date to get a new one. As you say you’re waiting for your MH review in the interim anyway? I’ve been signed off since jan 19 too, current note ends 28th of this month so I’ll call my gp then to discuss where we go from here as he corresponds regularly with my mh and orthopaedics team.

Who are you are you speaking to at the students union? I'd have thought the university itself would be better? Their admissions department of similar.

I don't think your doctors is wrong, and suggest you follow their process.

Some GPs do them as a goodwill gesture, but they are not in the GP contract.

Also some GPs will choose to offer private letters.

It’s the course coordinator asking . She’s offered to email the surgery , but I’ve said no - if I can get a letter I’ll go for that .

It’s because I’m due to go on a 10 week hospital placement when I go back, so that’s why they’re wanting all this processed now rather than later I suppose .

I’m not sure if it was an M3 originally - it was the same certificate I was issued to give to my employer when I worked for the NHS .

Definitely can’t afford a private GP, I don’t even think we have that service up here - no private hospitals etc .

I’ve been given a copy of a standard letter from student union to send to surgery which I’ve done . I accept I’m probably going to have to pay for the letter which isn’t the issue (I’m aware will probably cost me £50-£60) but it was more that they said to allow my records to be released to whoever wants them at the university , I don’t know why .

No dates for tests/surgery no, just been told they will do at some point in the next year and uni have said in advance they can’t support any further time off . I’m four weeks post op at the moment for a previous surgery.

It’s mainly mental health reasons , but yes I’m now concerned GP is going to dispute it and say I can go back - it’s my university that don’t want me back, they’re saying I’ve failed their fitness to practice assessment .

Current fit note expired in May ... it was issued in January by GP surgery I was registered with at uni , I had to move home from there (200 miles) and re-register with surgery at home .

If you're waiting to see the MH team and also surgery/more tests then it doesn't sound like the GP currently has the right information to actually make the decision about your fitness at the moment.

Some GPs do them as a goodwill gesture, but they are not in the GP contract.

I must have been lucky when I was a student! It was 15 years since I was signed off from my PhD, I suppose.

OP, I hope your MH team can help. I must admit, I had no idea people could get signed off for a whole year...

I think it’s just how the university’s system works, they call it voluntary suspension and you can only get signed off for the semester or full academic session . In my case I’ve passed semester one of year two so I only need semester two of year two signed off , but it’s just deciding when I go back to do that second semester iyswim .. I’m giving myself a headache now haha

they’re saying I’ve failed their fitness to practice assessment

OP it doesn't sound as if you want to go back - is that the case? Also, if the fitness to practice assessment failure will stop you registering with a professional body - and therefore be unable to work - you may need to consider your options here. What would be a good outcome for you?

OP I had to get a letter from my GP practice on a few occasions when I was a student to support a pause from studies (which ended up being for several years) and also to request an extension on course work due to serious ill health. I didn’t get a formal fit note as was not employed but the GP wrote me a brief letter explaining I had been experiencing health issues which prevented me being able to attend my course at that time and asking that be given a pause/extension. I did not have to pay for any of these and no confidential information was disclosed.

That is a shame that its so complicated for you, my gps wrote me a letter for university when I asked (explaining why I couldn't do my dissertation) and waived the £20 fee. It was for pregnancy related sickness though so maybe the rules are a bit different.

I’m not sure what the best outcome is . I’ve been very, very unhappy for a long time and feel like I’ve lost all sense of ‘me’ if that makes sense . It’s taken from January until tomorrow to be able to see a mental health professional so I’m hoping they will help a bit .

I do desperately want to go back but the anxiety is stopping me . To be totally blunt I’m scared of dying, all day every day, and I’m scared if I go back I’ll die alone far from home . At least here I’m at home, even if I sort of feel trapped .

Confidence is at a complete low and any time it seems to increase someone or something comes alone and batters it straight back out of me .

It’s an allied health professions course . If I was well I’d be good at the job , but when I’m like this I’d be useless . I don’t want to walk away completely because I don’t think there are any other options open to me than doing that course .