Doctor refuses to give sick note

angry

My wife has been refused a sick note from her medical pratice although she is waiting to attend a tribunal appeal hearing after failing her W C A assesment for E S A entilment. The D W P told her to get in touch with the pratice manager of her surgery as she needs med cert or letter for her benefits to continue please help if you can

elnafinn

I am sorry to read that your gp is not being co operative. What reasons did the gp give for not writing the sick note?

Elna x

CJHunter

Can she see somone else??

julie47

Sorry Angry, I can't help but I hope someone else can come along and advise you soon.

Juliepf x

woodbon

Hi,
Did she ring and ask the receptionist or manager or did she go and talk to the doctor? If she didn't see the doctor, then an appointment with him or a sympathetic colleage might be the way. Now they call them 'fit notes' and the GP can fill in his opinion of when you'll be able to work and if any addaptations to the workplace would help. I think you both you and your wife and the doctor need to discuss this. We have a practice manager who keeps writing to my diabetic husband telling him not to test his blood every day as it costs too much! His GP ignores this and told my husband to carry on as before!
Hope you get some answers and a certificate.
Love Sue xx

angry

I informed D W P they told me to get in touch with practice manager
I rang surgery, the short story is she had to go and see her regular doctor and he said according to the computer it said no more sick notes are to be issued unless there is a new illness. After my wife explained that she needed the current sick note for benefit entilment he duly obliged
considering what my wife has gone through this year with her illness Arthritis i think it would be fair to say how totally inconsiderate her surgery has been in perticulary her doctor who refuses to send her for testing for her condition.

mouseymousey

Why is your doctor refusing to test your wife? Does he/she give reasons?
(I know though a lot of arthritis types don't show up in a blood test).

angry

She has had a blood test for R A it came back negative, her doctor says because of this he believes she has osteoarthritis not rumatoid and there are no tests for O A
The blood tests are not 100% and are not accurate.
He fails to diagnose her as having arthritis but write's on her sick notes as suffering from multiple joint pain 'arthralgia'.

elnafinn

X-rays and MRI's show that a patient has osteo arthritis.

Elna x

lupin15

I was diagnosed by another consultant for another condition through xrays and mri scans. Both have shown disc issues in my lower back and neck and wear and tear arthur osteo. Should be sent for xrays etc...but money appears to be an issue at most practises. Hope she gets it sorted soon.

bubbles

this is dreadful, a few simple x rays would not go amiss, nor would it break the budget of the surgery. Neck, lumbar, knees at least. A request for your wife to be seen by the rheumatology department is the best way forward. They would do a range of blood tests that are far more in depth and also arrange the x rays at the same time.
Arthralgia is term used to cover non inflamitory pain, with several possible causes, hence, the need for a referal to a specialist.
A letter to the Practice Manager would not go amiss, they have to investigate all matters, raised by patients. If you get no joy, then you can write to your primary care trust, again, they have to follow up complaints or concerns. It makes me so mad, I wish I had gone on to be a Dr, when I had the chance during my nursing career. Sometimes they have the charm of a funnel web spider. I hope you get some right and proper answers. XX Bubbles

PollySid

angry wrote:

he said according to the computer it said no more sick notes are to be issued unless there is a new illness.

That must be just a practice thing as my doctor has issued me another note for the same illness.

angry

Her doctor refuses to send her to a specialist no reason given although she has hip pain and family history of arthritis. He says there's no test for o/s
i believe its a financial issue and until it is accepted as a disabling condition
that leaves you limited in your capabilities of work i know she is going to struggle trying to find justice here.
It appears that unless your severely crippled the government together with doctors are winning the battle trying to get people with arthritis conditions in to work or at least on job seekers allowance to save money.
She is still waiting for her appeal to be heard, so we will take it from there
if she put a complaint in to the practice manager she fears she will get struck off from her doctors

stickywicket

You could always change to another practice, angry. It's helped some people.

muffy

You and your wife have been having a very rough time with your GP, however, everyone has the right to ask to be referred to hospital and to ask for a second opinion. It may help if you went to the GP with your wife and insisted on a second opinion. Good Luck.

mouseymousey

I had the same with an Oseto a while ago. He read the screen and said 'oh the blood tests came back negative'. I know from reading that their are over 300+ types of arthritis and some don't show up on the blood count. I know its a 'different' approach but maybe if you printed up the info from this site and took it to the GP?
I'm lucky my own GP is very approachable if I have 'found' something on the site. (But I do understand how some are, I walked out of an appointment with another GP).

woodbon

I'm going to tribunal after an ESA medical. I needed a sick note and my GP gave me one, it just said Back Pain as she refused to put anything confidential on these 'fit notes'. She has written confidentially to the tribunal supporting the claim and going into medical detail. They have accepted that on the sick note.
Sounds like your GP is following a political agenda.
Love Sue

theresa4

I have sero negative RA nothing shows in my blood except during flare a slightly raised esr and CRP but nothing extraordinary but the pain and disability I suffer is!!
It is only now after 6 years my fingers are starting to twist at the joints otherwise nothing has shown up even though I had to stop work due to pain, exhaustion and falls etc etc etc... glad I didnt have your doctor. Mine referred me with 3 months as at first I had pain and stiffness in my finger joints and wrists then it went away then came back after 6 weeks ish then went away he felt I had RA despite negative bloods and sent me to rheumy. feel free to print off my reply to support your case. My rheumy feels GPs wait too long to refer as the earlier its caught the better even sero neg RA and too many GPs accept a negative result as not having RA and saying a positive RA is definitive when in fact it is known that some people have positive RA factor but never symptoms of RA . (sero negative is not always the least disabling as in my case).
Good luck with this sorry cant say much more as not too good at the minute).
Theresa

woodbon

I think I read somewhere that the system is over-extended by people like me and lots of others on here who have to take the claim to tribunel and often end up being given the benifit.

Does the Government think that we are going to all be 'swinging the lead'. Also most of us have GP's and consultants who support our claim. Why would they do this if it was wrongly made, it would make their professional judgement look stupid. Sorry, I'm going off on a rant, but it does make me cross! I hope you fight this through and get the benifit you need. Love Sue xxx

mouseymousey

I saw my GP this week (about some new hips). Gp explained 'the system' has changed and instead of going straight to a Rheumy we have to go to a physio place first (don't know if its just my HA or its all). So, what happens is the box is ticked yes you have been seen in so many weeks, but of course the whole process is now so long and drawn out. Its all politics and they are messing with everything. No one seems to care it leaves people in pain for months on end :evil

angry

My wife has a tribunal appeal on 9/3/2012 here in liverpool mersyside, and i will let everyone know here on the forum how she got on.
I will be supporting her along with a representative from C A B
Doctors nightmare (Arthritis) and a disease that most dont want to reconise.
I want to thank everyone for their support and comments as i will get back to you all very soon

tkachev

My OA was diagnosed by xray. I was not in dreadful pain but mentioned to my rheummy (I have R.A)my foot hurt. I cannot see why they do not investigate your wife's OA with an xray.

Good luck with the appeal 9th March.

Elizabeth

angry

I'm not sure about this but i dont think your doctor needs to give a reason as to why he wont send you for an xray, as in my wife's case as he uses the term Arthralgia (multiple joint pain) as she has not been tested for OA only had a blood test for RA which came back negative.
She is still waiting for a diagnosis even though she's been suffering since she was 40yrs old and her condition has been getting worse.
She has no faith in doctors and i dont blame her.
If she ends up on jobseekers allowance no employer will take her on because of her delibertating illness, its appaling to think genuine people have to go through asessments,tribunal appeals the stress and worry
and the pain that one expierences, your not sick enough or you have mild to moderate OA words that were expressed by the doctor acting on behalf of ATOS as well as her own doctor who sits on the fence!

angry

We need to highlight the failings by Atos Healthcare in carrying out assessments for sickness and disability benefits. The ultimate aim is to encourage government, through campaigning and raising awareness, to end their contract with Atos and accept that far too many mistakes are being made by the contractor. Too many people are being found fit for work when they are not, or being awarded a level of benefit which does not accurately represent their medical problems and their prospects of securing employment.

angry

My wife has been dissalowed her right to claiming esa by the tribunal judge at the hearing on 9th march 2012 as she did not meet the target 15pts set out by the DWP for work assesment. She didn't go in person to the tribunal as she felt let down by her GP and representative at the CAB
also the stress factor having a tremendouse affect on her health.
Arthritis is being ignored by MPs GPs and the government
She will now claim JS and at 59yrs old with a illness (40yrs) and no safety net
roll on the unemployment figures good luck Mr Cameron and all who sail on your ship!!!