Sickness Certificates
You do not require a doctor’s sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may, however, require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.
Evidence that you are sick
If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer or Benefits department can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).
It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a ‘Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.
You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.
Statement of Fitness for Work – ’Fit Note’
The ‘fit note’ was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer’s support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.
For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced).
How to request a sick note
Repeat sick notes for adults can be requested via the Admin option on our online request form at: https://florey.accurx.com/p/L83096 or through the NHS App. If you are unable to request through this method, please call us on 01271 863119.
New sick notes will require evidence from a hospital procedure, or will require the patient to make a GP appointment to discuss.
Please note that we do not offer sick notes for Children due to missing school. Please contact your child’s school to find out what is needed as evidence if requested by them. In most cases an appointment card or print out from the child’s medical records for the appointment (telephone or face to face) is sufficient and this can be obtained on the NHS App, or from a member of the admin team.
