More Health Care Professionals Set to Be Able to Sign Fit Notes
New Regulations are due to come into effect from 1 July which will enable nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists to sign and issue Fit Notes.
The Government has announced that doctors will no longer be the sole healthcare professionals able to legally sign off fitness for work notes (Fit Notes). The Government introduced the Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) across England, Scotland and Wales on 10 June, which will extend the remit of health care professionals who can legally certify Fit Notes. The Regulations, which come into force on 1 July 2022, confirm that healthcare professionals, rather than doctors, will be able to sign a Fit Note.
They define a healthcare professional as one of the following:
- a registered medical practitioner
- a registered nurse
- a registered occupational therapist or registered physiotherapist
- a registered pharmacist
The intention behind the Regulations is to try and ease the workload burden on GPs which will then hopefully improve their availability for patients. The implementation of the Regulations next month also follows the announcement in April that doctors will no longer have to sign a Fit Note in wet ink and instead, can issue and sign the Fit Note electronically.
Health care professionals must still undertake a full assessment of the individual's fitness to work before a Fit Note can be issued. It cannot simply be handed to the employee either in person or electronically on request. To assess an individual, a health care professional must either carry out a telephone or in person consultation, or consider a written report produced by another health care professional, and then they must state, on the Fit Note, their name and profession.
Employers Should Be Wary of 'Fake' Fit Notes
Employers may have concerns about these changes and how they could lead to an increase in 'fake' Fit Notes, or to Fit Notes being issued without proper assessment. Employers should ensure that those who are responsible for receiving and processing Fit Notes are aware of the new rules so that they can check that what they receive complies with the revised requirements.Employers Should Be Wary of 'Fake' Fit Notes