GPS hat gesagt, dass er aufhören soll, kranke Notizen zu verteilen und Menschen an Jobtrainer und Fitnessstudios zu schicken

So they’re forcing sick people into work. I don’t think that will work very well, as I’m sure that GPs are signing people off for a reason. I guess the government believes that work sets you free?

Is this for people who are unemployed and sick? Because I already have a job thanks, if I should need to be signed off for a bit I will react very strongly to the suggestion of a job coach.

Aren’t fit notes given to the short term sick? Why are we making their lives harder? The long-term sick get a Work Capability Assessment and if found unfit for work don’t need to provide fit notes to get LCWRA.

Are they gunna pay for the gym membership? Chances are people who are jobless and sick can’t afford it.

These schemes already exist. Re-siting them at a GP is going to make no difference whatsoever.

I’ve been very ill for a long time but I’m now well enough to get some sort of part time work from home, however I’m having difficulties finding something because I have no work references and no recent work history, and I’m not reliably well. I can be ill for a few weeks and unable to work again. I also have no particular skills – I was in low-paid retail and temp admin jobs before I got sick, and to be honest, I wasn’t especially talented at either. I was just reliable and I’ve lost that, now.

So I tried talking to a National Careers Service adviser.

He offered help with my CV – great, but if I can’t find an employer who’ll take someone on with no references and an 11 year work history gap and no explanation for it other than ‚er, I was very ill but now I’m better, honest, please employ me‘ then even the brightest, shiniest CV is going to get me nowhere.

He suggested that I offered to work for nothing for a few weeks so that an employer can try me out, as it were, in order to overcome the lack of references. For some reason I think that this would lead to me getting exploited.

He suggested that I do a government-sponsored course. These courses are about GCSE level and so would probably be very helpful to someone who’s finding that their lack of GCSEs is causing them difficulties, or someone who would benefit from a care-giver qualification. I’m simply not well enough to care for anyone and I’ve got a reasonable number of certificates, so adding one or two more won’t make a difference to me. The courses do not lead to guaranteed jobs. Doing one of these courses would count as a successful outcome for the National Careers Service, however it would not be a successful outcome for me.

These courses also look like they should be decorated with red flags. There’s no fee, but the fine print – if you can find it – says that failing to complete a course will lead to a fee, unless you have a reasonable reason for not doing it. Finding out what that fee is was difficult. It was between £80 and £125 ish, I think. Finding out who decides whether your reason is reasonable or not was impossible. And the website was full of ‚don’t delay, sign up now to avoid missing out‘ pushes. There’s no entry requirements, so someone who struggled at school because they are struggling to read and write would still be accepted… and then have to pay the surprise withdrawal fee, which is quite a lot of money if you’re broke.

That’s it. That’s all the help that’s available. It’s based on guesswork about who needs to use the service, characterising ‚the unemployed‘ as lacking in paper-qualifications and needing a well-written CV, but otherwise capable, and effectively blaming them for their lack of employment. Unless the help available in the GPs office is substantially improved, which I don’t think is likely, then this new scheme is just another way to let smug people say ‚well, help is available‘.

I can see why they’re doing it, but it doesn’t seem like the best way of doing because it comes across as punitive. There’s a massive onus currently on moving to a preventative model of health, from the NHS 10 plan, a lot of this is about the preventative issues in healthcare which cause people to have worse health and of which low income is one of the key ones (the Dahlgren and Whitehead model I believe it is one of the 4 umbrella terms). So I guess the logic is by helping someone find work it stops them disengaging with society (which can contribute to MH issues) and it raises socioeconomic status which theoretically helps improve their ongoing health. 

But like I said, this doesn’t seem the best way to do it, but it also seems to be a pilot. 

„Medically what you need is some rest, but politically I’m not allowed to do that anymore“

First do no harm??

Nothing wrong with this other than it could be a waste of GP time, which could means there’s a knock on impact for other patients, really this needs to be sample tested in both high & low population practices.

May as well make all GPS take redundancy and turn the practices into Job Centres.

Only to then realise Job Centres don’t actually help you look for work either.

Our country is a fucking joke.

Whys it’s always the top 1% commentors on these threads that are moaning like fuck about anything and everything

Hello? Yeah, hi. I have a 39C fever, diarrhoea and a chest infection, could I have a sick note please, for work? GP: What you need is to go to the gym and get a second job… Next!

Can the government pay for my gym membership please?

Job coaches are the biggest waste of space and money on the planet. At least they were 10 years ago when I was unemployed

No way, I was having this same conversation with the lead clinician of a rugby club yesterday- we were on the subject of Edinburgh council and businesses like ford in Dagenham that have huge workforces where there’s a large percentage on sick leave- they’d rotate the workers roles to avoid repetition and had their own in house physios and occupational health.

So are they saying the GPS aren’t qualified to know when someone’s sick..all those years at school to be told you don’t know what your doing

This crap will appeal to the bitter but ethically this is criminal. It’s different if they genuinely need help with gym or coaching but suddenly saying people don’t need to be on sick doesn’t mean it’s true.

All those seething about some bloke they know who’s never worked all his life, gets a Lamborghini free, goes on holiday seventeen times a year and has the latest mobile phone need to chill tf out. Only 2% of all on benefit get 25k from benefit alone. You aren’t a genius, you aren’t aware of everything that goes on behind closed doors, you assume because x person acts normal in front of you so they don’t get judged.

7 months ago, my Father-in-law retired.

6 months and 3.5 weeks ago, my Mother-in-law was signed off on sick leave.

She began to experience migraines. Horrible. Dr signed her off for 3 weeks after a single appointment. During this time, she occasionally had a migraine, but continued her daily life of going out to shops, cafe’s, friends etc. Two day’s before returning to work, she had her worst migraine yet and the Dr signed her off for another 3 weeks.

Almost 3 weeks later and the same again, huge migraine, another 3 week sick note. This time, the Dr asked her to keep a journal to try and identify the triggers. I’m unaware of what the journal contained.

At the end of that period of leave, her migraines had disappeared! Wonderful! But unfortunately, now she has a horrible Neck pain and can barely move. 2 weeks signed off this time. Seemed to be getting better (she’s been up out and about constantly after all) this time toward the end of the 2 weeks but my goodness, it’s back again for the next GP visit and another 2 weeks are issued for her to recover.

After a total of 16ish weeks off now, the Migraines and Neck pain have finally subsided. But would you believe it, she’s only gone and twisted her leg. No one saw when it happened, but it happened, and now it hurts to walk or stand for hip pain. 3 weeks off seems about right this time from the Dr to let that heal up – but oddly enough it becomes worse – and 3 weeks later, still it’s hurting and just not right to go back to work – another 2 weeks off the Dr orders, righto, they know best.

Finally, at long last, the hip pain has gone. But guess what returned, the migraines! My goodness, what a horrible time this lady is having. Dr signs her off for 4 weeks!

At last, after this extremely difficult time, multiple dr’s appointments, multiple issues, she is finally able to return to work. Phew! Thank goodness for that! Her Statutory Sick Pay was only a day away from running out! What about that timing!

*Times/dates are best recollection – don’t hang me for it reddit.

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So yes – It’s utterly ridiculously easy for people to manipulate this system to get sick notes. I wish I’d made this story up.

Whilst the majority may not agree with this, I think this is good and agree with it. Know of a few who persistently made doctors appointments to get diagnosed with illnesses, by exaggerating their symptoms. Along with their kids being diagnosed. Now they claim all the benefits they can, whilst now showing no signs of diagnosed illness. Miracle cure these benefits!

So whilst its not for the doctor to „police“ who gets benefits, they are on the front line for signing off illnesses, which determines what people are entitled to.

In advance of the downvotes in defence of the genuinely sick and unable to work. This is unfair for them. Blame those who are ripping off the system as a form of income.

Perhaps also introduce more private investigators for current recipients.

Putting your fingers in your ears and forcing ill people to work, instead of addressing why they’re ill or why they’re struggling to get a job, is surely going to work this time!

I’m sick of this country putting all its focus and budget into scraping people off the floor instead of catching them when they fall (or even stopping them from climbing the building in the first place). We take all funding away from youth services, create an impossible job market, make it impossible to own a home, and then wonder why so many people are ill, disaffected, causing crime etc.