Fit/sick note after surgery confidentiality?

[AnonymousX7]

Hi,

I’m due to have surgery in a couple of months for a private issue I don’t really want to disclose to my friends or my workplace. I have to go under general for it and the surgeon told me the note wouldn’t say what I had done just that I had general surgery as I’m a day case.

I just want to know if anyone can confirm this? As I don’t really want to hand my note to work with my reason for surgery since it’s only minor but private to me and I’ll only need time off to really recover from the general anaesthesia. Any help would be appreciated thanks!

If you only need up to a week off you can self certify without a note.

@Sidge how long will I know I have to have off? Also, if they give me a sick note can I choose not to hand it in and self certify? Sorry I’ve never had anything like this so I’m unsure.

I'm not sure I understand the issue? If they hand you a note which has more details on tha. You are comfortable, simply hand it back and say you were assured it would just say "surgery'. Get them to do another.

@Somuddled is that something I’d be able to do? Sorry, I’ve never had a fit note or much time off of work so I don’t know how it works. I just don’t want my reason disclosing.

Yes, they might not love having to do a second but it is just a form on a screen which they input your details on and print out. If you are worried, mention it when you arrive for the surgery too. They will understand that privacy is important to people. I sent a fit note back because the GP had written depression/anxiety. I had anxiety but had never had depression and hadn't mentioned it to the gp. It was important to me for the note to me correct so they redid it.

Usually your surgeon will give you an indication of how long you'll need off depending on the nature of your job and what surgery you're having.

If you're comfortable writing on here what you will be having done I might be able to give you some general advice - or you can PM me.

We tend to write things like 'post op recovery' or 'recovery from surgery' so intentionally vague whilst being accurate. Ask your surgeon to write something similar.

@Somuddled thank you. Do you think my employer would be able to dig anymore into my operation? The surgeon actually said realistically I could tell them something different to what it is if I wanted as the note would just say general surgery but they have no right anyways to be noseying if it’s private. I was going to just say a minor operation then leave it at that. Just don’t want the extra nerves that I already have with people asking so I’m trying to keep it private as possible.

You can ask for them just to put say surgery and general anaesthetic.

Depending on what you have done you might need longer than a week off so it's good to get the note from the surgeon. Take the time as well.

Depending what you're having done it might be worth chatting to HR in confidence in case they need to make any adaptations to your role / working environment for a while.

One thing to note about time off as well. You might be required to self isolate for a few days before hand so you might have to factor that in.

I’ve had two surgeries and my note from the doctor just had ‘surgery’ or something similar written and how many days I was signed off for. You don’t have to tell them what it was for.

Also, first time in surgery I was absolutely terrified but it went well. Going under GA was actually fun and I would do it every day if I could. Obviously I don’t know what your surgery will be but mine was to do with endometriosis and then complications after a miscarriage and both were fine with no issues and I would feel comfortable going under again.

My GP put Ongoing breast management when I had several months off for breast cancer treatment.I think they're fairly careful about the wording and understand people want to keep certain things private.

@Sidge thank you, I’ve sent you a PM.

@Twizbe thank you also, I work from home currently so I think I would just need a few days to recover and then see how I am.

@ClaireEclair that’s brilliant, I haven’t told my family because I just really want to get it over with without the added hassle/anxiety. Extremely nervous of GA, and the effects of it so this has put me slightly more at ease. Thanks! Mine is actually due to bowel issues, IBS and things like that so as you can imagine I don’t really want to be announcing it to my peers and friends!

Please take the week. Don't rush back, you don't have to.

I'm a SAHM but my husband took 4 days off work to help after my operation. For those days I'd feel fine and then crash and fall asleep. It took a full week to not be exhausted by small things.

This was without any incisions to heal. When I had a vein removed I was off work for 3 weeks (pre work from home) because it took ages for the incisions to heal and for me to be able to walk far.

I have a staff member who's had an op for a "private" complaint. In that case, I needed to know the impact of this, as the manager, because of a staged return to work, limits on lifting etc. so although you may not want work to know the details, make sure you know any implications for your workplace (could you pick up a fire extinguisher or a ream of A4 paper, can you drive etc.) so you can give these details to your line manager.

I had surgical management of a miscarriage a few weeks ago. Went into outpatients at gynaecology. My sick note said 'hospital admission' and that I'd need 2 weeks off. It did have the ward on at the hospital though so that could be looked up and you would see it was gynaecology. Good luck with your procedure OP.

@Ilovemyfairylights thank you for your response!

@Twizbe a large part of my job is online as opposed to moving around but I will definitely take my time and only do things when I’m ready, I prioritise my health over any workplace. Thank you for responding,

@PineappleWilson the job is pretty much all computer work and from home at the moment. So I don’t think it would impact this or the company a lot. I’d also be willing to potentially work whilst I am on the mend just taking breaks and slowly depending on how I am which is more than leaving my work to stack up. I don’t think this would impact my job significantly to have to disclose my private information would it?

@nettersrunboulder86 thank you, do you know if it’s possible to request it without the ward? Not sure whether it makes it different but this is private surgery as a day case. Not sure whether the wards are different in my private hospital due to a low amount of recovery rooms/areas?

[quote AnonymousX7]@nettersrunboulder86 thank you, do you know if it’s possible to request it without the ward? Not sure whether it makes it different but this is private surgery as a day case. Not sure whether the wards are different in my private hospital due to a low amount of recovery rooms/areas?[/quote]
I had my op private and they only have 2 wards named after local landmarks. It wouldn't have given any clues to be told I was on Cator ward as opposed to Langley ward.

Tbh I think what would invite the fewest questions would be to have general surgery on the fit note and just take time off sick without trying to do a fit note. As others have said if you want to do some work that will prompt questions from your manager about whether you're well enough or what you can / can't do.

I was nervous about the general, I was last on the surgery list though so by the time they called me down I was too hungry to care about the anaesthetic lol

@Twizbe my plan was to inform my workplace and if my colleagues asked, I was just going to say a cyst removal or something similar. Because I know they would ask then get the fit note with general surgery on it. My conversation with my surgeon was good he assured me it would be private and I’ve been told to mention it at my pre-op, he also told me I could technically tell something else although it isn’t anyones place to ask. I think work will be fine since I have a really good environment but obviously this is a private issue to me.

Yep, just request a vague note. I had surgery last year and asked the GP not to include the name of the proceedure. I was given a 6 week fit note due to "abdominal surgery", no issues and I didn't have to tell work why, although my manager did ask!