Private remote GP sick note - are they accepted?

[Jefa]

My workplace offers a private remote GP service as part of our benefits. I called them yesterday to issue a sick note. They signed me off for a month but when the certificate came in I noticed it says the following at the bottom:

Please note that this certificate is advisory and cannot be used for Social Security or Statutory Sick Pay via DWP.
Employers may still request a Med 3 Statement of Fitness for Work via your NHS Healthcare Provider.

Has anyone who has used a remote GP service for sick note had them rejected?

Kinda annoyed with this GP as they could have flagged the M3 thing on the phone.

Will work give you full pay - in which case it's probably fine - or just give you SSP - in which case you probably need to see your GP.

@Cantseetreesforthewoodthe policy says it’s full pay for 26 weeks?

Yeah, that's way over SSP.
I suspect it will be accepted, and no further sick notes will be required.

I hope so but the wording on the sick policy says “statement of sickness of work”. My GP is a nightmare to get appointments at and I had no idea private GPs don’t provide M3 or that was even a thing to be fair.

It sounds like it's a decision that each individual employer would make rather than a universal approach from the wording you've quoted so only one way to find out

I had this flagged by a private GP before but when I asked my employer, they looked very confused and said that of course they accepted it.

Med3 is a government mandated form for benefits claims and only issued by a NHS GP. Employer can insist on that or accept a private one.

I accepted a private one from one of my team recently, their follow on one was with their NHS GP but they couldn’t get an NHS appointment quickly. As we provide staff with the doctor service it seems counterproductive to then not accept a note from them.

I would submit that one and at the same time make an appt with your NHS GP. Expect to be asked for follow up sick notes, I’d be surprised if your employer just accepted the first one and then no others. If you’re off sick for longer than 26 weeks it becomes important to be in the NHS system as you might need to claim benefits, you need it to be recorded as a continuous period of sickness and DWP would only accept NHS certificates.

You may be able to get a gp fitnote by filling in a form online, although probably not a month long initially. First week of absence can be self-certified anyway, allowing you time to arrange it. If you need support or treatment you would need a gp appointment anyway.

Thanks so much for this. Yes, that’s what I thought in the sense that this is a service that work itself offers so I would find it silly if they didn’t approve it. Do you think I should just send it and ask to let me know if they need the M3?

I tried doing that but it said due to high volume of requests they’re no longer doing the online form and you need to book an appointment. Fun times!

Oh that’s good! Did you send it to your employer and asked them to let you know if they needed the M3?

Yes absolutely send it to them.