Legal and ethical dilemma

[sunshine080]

My job requires a professional registration in order to perform. My current registration expires shortly and I have been contacted to renew it. In order to renew I have to confirm that I am still fit to practice, and declare that there have been no changes to my health that would impact this. So I have two choices; lie and keep my job (because without a registration, I have no job), or declare my health issues, be unable to renew and lose my job - which subsequently means losing my house, being unable to support my family and child, etc. I am already in a high state of anxiety about this predicament and the closer it gets to the expiration date, the worse it's getting.

WWYD?

Just throw some money at it then and go have an appointment with Louise Newsome or many of the other GPs leaping onto this as a money earner.

its shit-if men had it they’d all be getting the medication needed and not having to fight to be taken seriously…and supply chains wouldn’t be breaking down. Misogynistic crap.

To be fair is it not better offering that as a suggestion rather than the op giving up her career and losing her house? Some jobs come with healthcare packages anyway.

whilst if my symptoms were to go away then I would be fine again, but until then I am not functioning adequately enough to be responsible for people's health

I think you answered your own question then @sunshine080 . You can't reregister at the moment. But that isn't forever (God willing) and when you're well again you can reregister.

Could you take some sick leave until you get it sorted out? And demand a second or third opinion? As a fellow professional who’s had similar symptoms (though fortunately never bad enough to nearly black out while driving) you have my sympathy.

If your symptoms are peri menopause then I suggest you book a couple of weeks annual leave and get yourself some HRT and see how you feel.
You can declare you are taking HRT if necessary on your registration but this seems absolutely insane that you are allowing yourself to be fobbed off with anti depressants etc. Go private if necessary but you 100pc need to be seen by a GP who will treat these extremely sortable symptoms.
You don't need to give up this job or registration! You just need HRT!

You are very experienced and have worked hard in a good career for a long time.

You could definitely find a job that would bite your hand off because of this.

It may not be as well paid as you are now but I bet you could get a pretty decent salary due to your experience and tbh if you’re not well then getting job that is less stressful may outweigh the having less money.

Please please please get some proper advice before relinquishing your registration- trade union? Occupational health? Colleagues? HR? Do you have a disability that requires reasonable adjustments? If health stops you continuing to work, would I'll health retirement be a possibility?

If you are in NHS in UK, look at the Practitioner Health service- self referral for mental health services. They have better understanding of regulators that most services too.

Please don't just procrastinate until it's too late. You will have options. Good luck and please don't let those years of experience go to waste.

I am not functioning adequately enough to be responsible for people's health.

Are you still taking amitriptyline? Because I was like a zombie on that and not safe to drive at all!
Take the AD at night to limit day time symptoms, go back to the doctor and ask directly for HRT.

Absolutely declare it OP. I’m in a similar job and have looked at cases where people got struck off during our training and lying is a huge no no. Be upfront with your employers and ask if reasonable adjustments can be made. If you lie and get found out you could be in legal trouble! Not to mention have a hefty fine and you’d definitely be sacked.

OP these are things you need to do:

• speak to Occupational Health asap and ask for their advice
• speak to your union/defence organisation and ask for their advice
• re-register and declare your health condition. The regulator won't take away your registration for health reasons. If they think it's serious enough they'll investigate but if it's perimenopause they probably won't but it's very rare for someone to have their registration revoked for health reasons.

whatever you do, do not lie. It will just make things a million times worse for you.

all the best and I hope you feel better soon 💐

I’m not sure I understand your dilemma. The NHS has a fairly generous sick leave policy. Take leave, carry on your registration and try HRT. A private prescription is not much and is relatively easily obtained with multiple online pharmacies. If after having exhausted all possibilities then you can come off the register but that’s a fairly drastic measure. I have known medics with extremely significant mental health problems be supported in continuing to practice. What has your responsible officer said? There are a million steps between recognising you’re struggling with clinical work and coming off the medical register.

OMG no! It's perfectly reasonable and correct to discriminate against a disabled person if their disability affects their ability to work safely. We don't let blind people drive, FFS.

Ps for what it's worth loads of healthcare professionals take sick leave for long periods for a variety of different reasons and will need to renew their registration whilst on leave. You aren't alone in all this and this won't have been the first person it's happened to.

Absolutely not okay to lie about this.
If you need good health for this registration it sounds like other peoples health or safety would be compromised if you are not well. Don’t put others in danger

How many medical professionals at the top of their payscale are that skint?

The highest Nurse Banding is a minimum of £12,000 more than my salary.

Or you change GPs. Get it for the prescription charge.

Exactly. I had double vision for 2 years. I had tI let DVLA risk assess me. Imagine if I killed someone driving due to my eyesight? How could I live with myself??

I was like this a few months ago, (age 42) a retired dr who came back to locus put me on hrt after a couple of years of awful symptoms. Within 4 weeks things had very drastically improved.

Get yourself and a drs appointment on Superdrug online or somewhere. You apply for hrt and they contact you. There's a limit on the cost of hrt now so shouldn't be too bad.

Please try this then make your decision. Good luck op.

Go private to a specialist menopause clinic

But don't expect it to work miracles or be perfect

What would happen if you messed up in your job?

I've had very similar wobbles recently OP. That feeling of not feeling well when you have such massive responsibilities in work and at home is awful. It sounds to me as though you are now suffering anxiety also. Please take some sick leave and get some proper help. Ask to speak to a different gp. Explain that you are struggling and feel you need some sick leave. In my experience, they are very supportive if the alternative is you having to Jack your job in all together. Take some time off to breath and get some proper support. I'm in the process of doing this currently. Medication, CBT and time has really helped. I'm now able to think clearly, make decisions and come up with a plan for the future. This has included researching HRT. However many if my symptoms have gone away since having time off. There is no way I could have got to this point without taking time off. Take care of yourself and take all the support offered.

Can you re-register declaring your health issues? If it's NMC for example then you could be brought into a health committee, but that is VERY different to a fitness to practice proceedings.

The focus would then be on how to support you with your health and keep your PIN. Far better to do that than to wait until it becomes a FTP issue which it sounds like it could become if you don't declare it and don't take any action.

I have a fluctuating medical condition that my GP would not prescribe prophylaxis for. I hit a sickness absence threshold at work and my manager referred me to OH to mitigate the risk to my job, as my employer will dismiss you if you are off sick too often.

One letter from OH doctor later, my GP was prescribing prophylaxis, which has saved my job and been life-changing outside of work.

Moral of the story: tell your manager that you have perimenopause, that your GP is ignoring you, and ask for an OH referral.

@sunshine080
Have you had a specific and direct conversation with your treating physician as to whether your symptoms make you unable to perform you job.? Would the physician if asked ,declare you unable to function in your current capacity?

If OP lies and gets caught, it will be FTP because you can't have someone working in a clinical role who would lie to keep their post.

I'm not seeing anything here which is a medical condition as stated by a doctor? Amitryptiline is the Devil's Drug.

When I entered menopause, I didn't see a GP I saw a gynecologist. I'm in the US so obviously not familiar, but wouldn't the NHS cover a referral to a gynecologist? And from there to a menopause specialist, maybe even an endocrinologist?