Requesting sick note from GP ‘early’ for MH issues

[ASDnocareer]

My depression has flared badly recently, struggling with basic tasks (showering, brushing teeth at night, leaving house, eating enough) and having intrusive thoughts of not wanting to live anymore.

For past three days I have taken sick leave from work (self certified and gave vague reason to boss).

I haven’t even booked a GP appointment in years so already anxious about the logistics of it (what if they don’t offer me an appointment? I’m aware NHS are too busy).

However I really can’t face going back to work in my current state, I’m taking small steps towards basic functioning and 7 days is not enough for me to recover enough to be back at stressful job.

According to my local GP site it says they only give work notes after 7 days of self certification but I’m already so stressed as my own company only allows 5 days self certification, then will request a sick note. If you don’t you will risk disciplinary and I’m already struggling mentally can’t cope going through something like that now.

Please does anyone know if I can request a sick note during an appointment before 7 days?

if not does anyone know if employers will accept private notes or of any private services I can use instead

Why don’t you request your sick note, and explain your company requires it after five days. I requested one today, and just filled in an online form.

It’s a week usually so either 7 days or 5 working days.

can you put in an e consultation asking for a fit note?

I think you’ll probably find the timings match up (assuming you work a 5 day week).

Self cert applies for the first 7 days of illness. For people who work 5 days a week Thats 5 days they self cert for. Two weekend days that not comment is needed on. Fit note for day 8 onwards of time which is day 6 off work.

really sorry you’re struggling OP. I think as you say baby steps, try and just break things down into one small task at at a time and try not to think too far ahead if you’re finding things overwhelming. As pp say, I think the distinction is between 5 working days / 7 calendar days, so I think you should be fine in that respect and your GP should be accommodating - I’d also recommend putting in the e-consult now saying you would need the note from x date (might make sense to also put in the e-consult that you’re requesting a GP appointment as well as you shouldn’t have to struggle alone) - our GP is good with these things and they just have a calendar reminder for themselves to send it over on whatever date the note is due. I really hope your GP is helpful and that you can get some support.

They usually have an online form to request a sick note. The gp can backdate a sicknote but can't forward date one

the sooner you get on to your GP the better. It’s never to early to ask for help, support and a sick line.

You will need an appointment for them to sign you off. I work at a GP surgery and I've not heard of them giving a note before 7 days but if you had an appointment and discussed possibly needing longer, for example if you were on day 4 of self cert and thought you'd need 2 weeks off. They would ask you to let them know if you required a sick note once the self cert ran out. Therefore you could have the app before the self cert runs out. You could also have it after and they can back date it. They cannot future date a sick note though.

Thanks all sorry if this is a stupid question but how does that work then if they can’t future date… apologies my head is pretty slow at the moment, but I can’t take day ‘6’ off without having a sick note first to hand in to work on the morning of day 6

Even if I get an appointment before and say I think I’ll need more time off once 5 self certif days runs out, how do I guarantee the gp will actually send it on time (eg morning of day 6 for me to give it to work)? I understand it’s not their fault but NHS GP services are often way too busy, worried it may take them few days to process the request

Because they backdate it, it won't matter when you get it aslong as it has the day 7 date on it as the start date. You do not need a sicknote before then.

I’m bit panicked the GP won’t process the note request until a few days after (not their fault as I know they’re too busy and overworked), I’m not allowed to take another sick day after the 5 days unless I present the note in the morning

Thanks I’m just not sure what I can say to my employer then as they will expect me to show Dr note straight away after self certifying finishes… also whilst the Gp is processing the request I won’t be entirely sure the GP will agree to sign me off if that makes any sense (I’d be paranoid to tell my work ‘I’m just waiting to receive note from GP’ if later turns out Gp disagrees to sign me off or something) then may risk disciplinary

I got a sicknote today filled the form online and they messaged the sicknote over to me within 2 hours . Even if your gp surgery takes longer it would be unlikely that a gp would say no to a sicknote. All you have to say to work is i won't be in im going to contact the drs and il talk to you after

You need to remind yourself most adults have had a sicknote at somepoint in their lives and it works out ok so yours won't be any different

Sorry you are struggling . I work at a Gp practice put your request in for an appointment tomorrow and say you are currently self certifying . I imagine they will want some sort of appointment with you whether it be a call or face to face . Tell your employer you are awaiting a further sick note from the Drs .

Sorry to hear you are unwell.
I think the time of night and the worries going round in your head may be making you feel a little worse.
So your posts and thoughts become a series of questions “what if this?” then “what if that?”
it’s too much for you and you can’t change much tonight.

have you eaten?
I’d suggest some of the following for this evening: complete an online request or equivalent. Set your alarm for mid morning tomorrow and if no reply, call the surgery at that time.
for the rest of the evening try to find small things that may be a distraction or otherwise need to happen. e.g. hot drink, snack, maybe something light on tv. Wash hands and face if can’t face proper shower. Nice hot facecloth perhaps.

I wouldn’t generally advocate lying but can’t you just tell the GP you’ve been off longer than you have? I mean, it’s only two days, the stress of this issue is clearly causing you a lot of distress, you’ve said you’re not functioning and are having intrusive thoughts so you sound like you need an appointment pretty urgently anyway. Makes no sense to have an urgent appointment tomorrow and then again in a couple of days once you hit day 7.

Just ask for a fit note tomorrow morning. When the GP asks ‘have you already self certified for 7 days?’, you just need to answer ‘yes’. They won’t know it’s not true, you can’t get into trouble for it.

It's rare for a GP not to provide a fit note.

OP fill out the sick note form at your drs, it should ask how long you need off until. Then email your employer and say to them Hi, just to let you know I've requested my sick leave note and will send over to you as soon as I receive it.

All you need to do 😊 I think where you arent feeling very well you are over thinking it a bit.

If you get a good sick pay take a little longer off if you can and use that time to get some good sleep, relaxation, do some hobbies, and eat good food. Sometimes you need to take a stress away (in this case work) to start to feel better. Might even be worth booking a GP appointment too for yourself if you are really struggling.

Sending you a hug 💐

They can’t future date a sick note, as you can’t predict you’re going to be ill. However, they can backdate it. Eg. Post an operation.

@ASDnocareer this is more simple than you think.

Firstly, you need to go to the doctor because if you aren't taking medication you need some, and if you are, it needs to be adjusted.

When you are at the doctors surgery, tell them how bad it has got and that you have been off work for x number of days but you don't think you're going to be fit for work and it is making you very anxious that you'll get a disciplinary.

The doctor will then decide whether they think you're fit to work, and if not, they will do one of two things:

1. write you a fit note even though your self-certification period isn't finished

2. tell to to request a fit note when the self-certification period is finished.

If it's 2, they will have written their appointment notes on your record, so whoever does fit notes will be able to see it and know that you need one.

On day 6, phone your employer and say 'the doctor has said I need some time off work to recover and I will send you the fit note when I get it.'

We can give sick notes before 7 days. If I saw someone on day 4 and thought they would need to be off longer than the 7 days I'd do the sick line there and then and give it to the patient.
Re the employer, you just tell them the sick note is coming. As long as it is dated correctly then that's fine no matter what they say.
Hope you feel better soon.

Pause. Take a breath.

Get a GP appointment. You won’t leave that with any uncertainty on whether you’ll get a fit note saying you’re not fit to work. You may or may not leave with it in your hand, but you’ll know the forward plan.

Thanks all for your kind comments. I booked appointment with GP surgery, the lady I spoke with was very kind and non judgemental. I was told given my symptoms and history, it was likely moderate to severe depression. Prescribed fluoxetine and now on waiting list for counselling.

It was quite hard to admit some of my symptoms out loud and so I stupidly completely forgot all about asking about sick note. Now I’m still bit anxious whether gp will actually agree to write me one / what to say to my work on Monday.

At my local gp surgery there is a form to fill in on an app for requesting a sick note and one box says “On what date should the cover start? This date must not be in the future. Cover should only start after 7 days of self-certified absence”
I’ve self certified this whole week and was wanting to request a note for Monday but worried that will be breaking their rules. However the GP surgery is closed on weekends and doesn’t open until 8am on Monday, if I wait until Monday morning to request one I won’t be allowed to take another day off work without having note first.

I am really trying to get back to functioning normally as quickly as possible but with fluoxetine it takes a while to kick in so feels unlikely I’ll be well enough to work on Monday

I completely understand how overwhelming this feels for you just now. I am currently signed off with work stress and anxiety and it has just taken me 3 days to build myself up enough to phone surgery and ask for an extension to my sick note. Only to be told it runs out on sunday so I need to phone back on Monday. Like you I was stressing over not having it to hand in on Monday to my work. However I have emailed my boss to let her know that I will not be back on Monday and I am awaiting an updated sick note from the GP as they cannot write it up before my old onre runs out. So I think if you do similar and say you're going to order it on Monday and will forward it as soon as you receive it then you should be covered.

I completely understand how massive and overwhelming this all feels. I get into my own head and rumenate so much that I just end up stuck in freeze mode. Then before I know it I've not moved for 4 hours.

Please look after yourself ❤️

Thank you! & I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through this. Wishing you well 💐