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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask why they called my drs?

57 replies

MarchEliza · 04/09/2017 10:07

Had a week off sick last month and was signed off with a dr's note (first time I've been sick for ages).

Found out this morning that someone from work called my GP to ask about my (legitimate) sick note.

No one has raised any questions or concerns with me and I have since returned to work.

I thought they weren't able to do this without my permission. Does anyone know if that's correct?

WIBU to feel this is rather intrusive and ask why they felt the need to do this?

OP posts:

KarateKitten · 04/09/2017 10:09

Presumedly as long as they are only asking about the content of the note no confidentiality has been breeched. I might be wrong but I would think an employer has every right to check the note itself is real.

KityGlitr · 04/09/2017 10:10

Yeah your workplace can do whatever they like, they haven't broken any confidentiality rules because the sick note came from the surgery.

However, how did the surgery respond? Cos if they gave ANY of your personal information away, even confirming you were given a sick note or what for, they've made a massive breach of confidentiality and you should make an appointment with the practice manager at your earliest opportunity to discuss it.

SheldonsSpot · 04/09/2017 10:13

I'd imagine the phone call was along the lines of-
Employer: Hi can you confirm a sick note dated xxx was issued to MarchEliza, stating she was unfit to work due to named medical condition?
GP Surgery: Yes that's correct.
Employer: Thanks, bye.

gingergenius · 04/09/2017 10:15

Afaik the surgery cannot even divulge whether a sick note was issued and especially not over the phone. That phone call could be made by anybody. Receptionists will not confirm anything over the phone.

Maryof1993 · 04/09/2017 10:19

The surgery are not even allowed to disclose that you're a patient there, let alone any other information.

KarateKitten · 04/09/2017 10:21

What is the point of a sicknote then?

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 04/09/2017 10:21

My Doctors won't even divulge if you have an appointment. Let alone discuss a sick note over the phone.
They could say
They're Queen Elizabeth ll, but. They'd still not get any information.
After all as pp says. It could be anyone on the phone
IMO confidentiality has been breached here.

Original poster

MarchEliza · 04/09/2017 10:23

To be fair I have no idea what, if anything, the surgery said on the phone. I only know that work called (I know this as the call was made in an open-plan office) and asked questions about the sick note.

It seems they have every right to try this though.

OP posts:

PollyFlint · 04/09/2017 10:27

The issue isn't really that your employer called your doctor - it's whether the doctor actually told them anything. If your employer was confused by something on the sick note (something which could have been as minor as not being sure if one of the numbers in the date was a 1 or a 7 or something) and phoned the doctor, only to be told that the doctor can't say anything further because of patient confidentiality, nothing intrusive has actually occurred.

But if they phoned your doctor and they had a good old chat about the details of your condition, that's obviously a very different matter.

How did you actually find out that your employer made the call to your GP? Did your GP surgery tell you? And do you know if anything was actually disclosed?

PollyFlint · 04/09/2017 10:29

Sorry, just seen you've answered some of my questions now - cross post!

Hopefully your GP's surgery told them to clear off, but that call definitely shouldn't have been made in open-plan office.

Maryof1993 · 04/09/2017 10:29

What is the point of a sicknote then?

Evidence that you're not fit for work

KarateKitten · 04/09/2017 10:31

I think I'll write my own from now on then Mary. Easily done if nobody is allowed to check the note itself is legit.

Maryof1993 · 04/09/2017 10:31

If your employer was confused by something on the sick note (something which could have been as minor as not being sure if one of the numbers in the date was a 1 or a 7 or something)

Sicknotes issued at a GP surgery are printed by a computer

LetDownFedUp · 04/09/2017 10:34

I handed in a sick note years ago after a week off due to a hernia operation. My gp's handwriting is completely illegible. There wasn't not one letter on the note that was recognisable. My manager tried to call my gp to confirm what it said. They refused to give any information, not even confirm if I was a patient there. The surgery then phoned me up to give me a bollocking for allowing my manager to waste their time. My manager then reported ME to HR for not cooperating.

So glad I don't work there anymore.

LetDownFedUp · 04/09/2017 10:35

Mine are handwritten but have a stamp from the surgery on it and on headed paper so not exactly straight forward to forge.

purplecorkheart · 04/09/2017 10:36

My surgery issues handwritten ones which is unusual.

Thymeout · 04/09/2017 10:38

A sick note is an official document, with financial implications regarding sick pay etc. People have been known to forge them. I don't see why an employer shouldn't be able to check whether the one they've been given by the employee is legitimate.

AlternativeTentacle · 04/09/2017 10:38

asked questions about the sick note.

What sort of questions? Did they disclose the reason for being off sick?

Maryof1993 · 04/09/2017 10:41

Easily done if nobody is allowed to check the note itself is legit.

If the employer has concerns about the integrity of their employee, perhaps they should take the issue up with the employee

Original poster

MarchEliza · 04/09/2017 10:42

Alas I don't know what they asked. The reason I know about it was that it was done in the open plan office and several people have told me that the call was made and it appeared they were checking its veracity.

It is a computer printed note signed (illegibly) by the dr I saw.

OP posts:

Original poster

MarchEliza · 04/09/2017 10:43

Mary - I did wonder why they have never raised anything with me. Also, this is the first time I've been off sick in over a year so my attendance record shouldn't be an issue.

OP posts:

Redpony1 · 04/09/2017 10:44

Sicknotes issued at a GP surgery are printed by a computer

I regularly receive hand written notes at work still

dinnerlady1 · 04/09/2017 10:48

Surly the phone call should have been made in private

PollyFlint · 04/09/2017 10:50

Sicknotes issued at a GP surgery are printed by a computer

My last two weren't. Both handwritten.

Thymeout · 04/09/2017 10:50

It doesn't mean that they are suspicious of you, personally. They may have had a problem in the past and have included it in their HR protocols for processing sick notes. It's better that they do it for everyone as routine, than if they treated individual employees differently.

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