To get a sick note or not…

[Gem123J]

Hi, just wanted to see what others would do in my situation. I’ve never had a sick note and time off work before so I think that’s why I’m being such a weirdo about it!

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and work the night shift in a care home. I’m really struggling with breathlessness and palpitations at the moment as well as bad pelvic pain, the pain is only while I’m working and for a few days after. I did see my midwife yesterday and my intentions were to discuss my working conditions with her and explain how I’m struggling, but was a bit down due to an argument with my husband so just kind of wanted to get in and out of the appointment so didn’t mention anything, it was the last thing on my mind at the time too!

I worked last night and obviously my pelvis was very painful pretty soon after starting shift. The shift consists of checking on residents to begin with, then re-positioning some residents and some are overweight so quite heavy, cleaning the lounges so sweeping and mopping, emptying bins (this takes about 1-1.5 hour for me to do) the other staff member cleans another area, we also keep laundry so lifting baskets of laundry, and then frequent re-positioning residents and in the morning we assist with personal care for 5 residents, these tend to be the heaviest or most difficult people (difficult as in they might be stiff due to parkinsons, or are overweight), but unfortunately for me it’s these who like to get up early so that’s why it is the night staff who do them, although there are other residents that like to get up early but they are normally left for the day staff to do. It has been discussed time and time again that the workload is heavy, not just for me but for all night staff, but I think the misconception is that because residents are sleeping most of the night we don’t have a lot of work to do, although those last 2 hours in the morning are tough because we’ve been up all night, and sometimes the nights are busy, but not always.

Anyway, my pelvis is still hurting and I’m meant to be back in tomorrow night and I’m seriously debating calling my GP to see if I can get a sick note BUT I would feel awful for missing my Friday night shift because it’s so close to Christmas and is a busy time so they might struggle to find cover, and I’ve never done it before so obviously I’m thinking of should I just go in and do my shift and at least I’m off until Wednesday so time to recover, but then again do I want to be in pain and tired over Christmas while I have a 5 year old who I obviously want to give all my attention to over the Christmas holiday.

What would you do?

Please be kind, I know it’s stilly to ask for opinions on this but I just want to see what option is supported the most and I’ll just go with that because I’m such a procrastinator and just need some guidance!!

You don’t need a sick note for one shift you can self certify

You shouldn't be heavy lifting during pregnancy. Have they done any health and safety with you?

You self certify for the first 5 days.

Have work done a risk assessment yet?

I think you should get a sick note ASAP. I couldn't have done your job at any stage of my pregnancy, and it sounds like your body is telling you quite firmly to stop. No shame in that. Your pelvis pain will only get worse if you keep straining it, so I think it's time to stop.

Also, night shift work is tiring at the best of times, and probably not ideal when pregnant. I'd definitely advice you to get a sick note and spend the rest of your pregnancy taking care of yourself and your unborn baby.

They’ve made it policy that if there’s sickness over the holiday period there needs to be a sick note. If I was planning on calling in sick I would
prefer to have something to show them anyway. But with how busy GP’s are currently, and tomorrow being the last working day until Christmas I bet they’ll be busy.

I was thinking of maybe being be best to ask the community midwife for advice but it’s near impossible to get hold of them, something has happened to their mobile and it doesn’t go through, and there isn’t currently an assigned midwife to the area so others just come and go to the local hospital so again impossible to call the office. I’m so annoyed with myself not mentioning something yesterday 😖

I’ve worked in a care home too on night shift . It’s really hard work. I wouldn’t have thought twice about getting a sick note if I was pregnant. Don’t feel guilty - you’ll feel worse if you carry on and really hurt yourself or baby.

Could you get a fit note from your GP to say that you can't do lifting of patients and other heavy things?

I used to do all risk assessments in a previous job, including pregnant women and new mothers. You should have had a risk assessment earlier on, and it should be repeated as you get larger (as in now) and things become difficult which weren't before. You should not be lifting anything you feel uncomfortable with, and they are required to make adjustments for you (including for example additional short breaks or changes in tasks so you get easier bits here and there). If adjustments can't be made (ie you are unable to do anything physical and essentially need a desk job, and that isn't feasible with your role), I think they can discuss starting mat leave early...though I may be wrong, I never had to do anything other than small adjustments for people as we were all office workers.
Either way, your manager/health and safety person/HR should have already done this, and you should ask about one as you're now having difficulties. And these aren't unusual in pregnant women, I was the same too.

As others have said, you don't even bother with a Dr for the first 5 days, work usually give you a self cert form when you go back to work. You can say the physical aspect of the job has caused some issues and you're unable to continue for a day or however long. And that when you return you'd like to discuss an expectant mother risk assessment, could they book time to discuss with you and if possible provide you with the form (ideally they have one....) in advance so you have time to consider its relevance

Guidance:
www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/employer/risk-assessment.htm

A risk assessment has been done but I’ve not seen it! Mainly because I don’t see any of the office staff / managers. I’m a bit stupid really for not kicking up more of a fuss but I feel like I’m already mentioning occasionally how I’m struggling afterwards. It is a bit of a mess there at the moment with several staff having been on long term sickness but I should be thinking that it’s not my problem really. I know I’m silly for worrying about others instead of worrying about myself and my baby.

I’lll try my best to get hold of a midwife for advice because I know they would sign me off anyway, so don’t know why I didn’t mention it yesterday, but I suppose if it’s not painful at the time we don’t think about it, but then when it is painful it bloody hurts and that’s all you can think about!!

You don't need a fit note for one shift regardless of what your employer says. You need to have a discussion with them about the aspects of the job that you are struggling with so they can do a risk assessment and make adjustments. I'm sure they'd rather you be in doing amended duties rather than being off sick.

You may well find GPs outright refuse because they are not obliged to. And as work shouldn't be asking for this (link below), GPs are allowed to charge to issue one if its within the self cert period (mentioned at bottom of link)
www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/caring-carers-and-long-term-conditions/when-do-i-need-a-fit-note/#:~:text=If%20you're%20off%20work,This%20is%20called%20self%2Dcertification.

@Purplechicken207

thank you for the guidance. I’ll have a read shortly.

The earliest I can start maternity leave is at 11 weeks before my due date and I’ve decided to do that but I’m giving them an extra 2 weeks. So after this week I only have 2 weeks left, I think that’s why I’ve been quietly just getting on with it, because in my head I’ve just been counting down the weeks and thinking it’ll be alright after then, but obviously every week that passes it’s getting harder and harder and the workload is just the same.

@Gem123J I understand that. But you really don't want to end up exacerbating something which could make the rest of pregnancy miserable, or even affect things like the actual birth/baby position because pain or overwork caused a weakness somewhere in your body - trust me on this 😂

Also have a look at expecting and empowered - a brilliant nurse and physio sister team specialising in pregnancy and mums. And they have 6 kids between them so they truly know it first hand. They're online but have tons more on their Instagram account. Is your pain spd? Because they have story highlights on different ways to move to lessen various problems like that, and simple exercises to help strengthen or at least stop any worsening. Normally I'd also recommend pushing for referral to physio, but by the time that all goes through you'll probably be at/close to due date anyway. And if I'm honest the NHS physio help I had was nowhere near as good as the private osteo and chiropractor I had to resort to in my very difficult first pregnancy.
Best of luck!

@Purplechicken207

from what I’ve read it does seem to be spd but it’s not a ‘permanent’ issue, just comes on when I’m working. Even just an hour on shift the pain starts but the care home is over 3 floors and there’s a lot of going up and down the stairs, lots of lifting and apparently it’s things like this that kick starts the pain! But the pain does stay for a few days and by the time it does go it’s the time of the week where I start my shifts again!! There is a lift in work and I try and use this, especially in the mornings, but if I’m answering a bell during the night I use the stairs because the lift takes a while!

@Purplechicken207

and thanks, I’ll have a look at your suggestion also 🙂

Call acas or pregnant then screwed in the morning to understand your rights. And call the care home and tell them that you can't work without pain, so unless they change your duties to take away most of the physical jobs, you can't work. Don't risk injury before labour.

FFS. Can't you and your employer deal with this? Do you have to waste the time of a doctor? Do you?

@ILoveeCakes

did I say I was going to waste the doctors time? To be honest I’d always opt for the midwife first, however mine is impossible to get hold of. So shall I just suffer? Or just take time off whenever I feel like it and my colleagues pick up the slack or the care home is short staffed and residents don’t get as much time as they would normally as staff are rushing due to staff illness.

Basically if I am well enough to work according to a GP or midwife’s opinion I would work, if they think it’s a risk for my health or my babies then I would take the time off. Sorry I don’t just willingly take time off when I feel like it, I need to know it’s justified.

And fyi, why not “waste” the time of my GP. I pay for NI and I rarely go to the doctors anyway, hence my post asking advice, so why not when I’m in pain, as well as suffering from breathlessness and palpitations.

It’s Christmas, be kind. You have no idea of anyone’s situation and clearly have no empathy, don’t waste my time!