If you’ve been off sick for more than 7 days
To request a sick note:
- fill out a sick note request form
- phone or visit the surgery from 10am to 6pm
If you’ve been off sick for 7 days or less
If you’re off work sick for 7 days or less, your employer should not ask for medical evidence that you’ve been ill. Instead, they can ask you to confirm that you’ve been ill. You can do this by filling in a form yourself when you return to work. We call this self-certification.
Find out more about sick notes on the NHS website.
Fit notes following or during hospital treatment, surgery or fracture
If you are likely to need a fit note (otherwise known as a sick note or MED 3) when you come out of hospital or following outpatient attendance, please ask the doctor treating you in hospital to provide you with one before you leave. This is because the decision on how long you need off work is made by the clinician who has assessed and treated you. If you have forgotten to do this, please contact the hospital and ask for a Fit note to be posted or texted to you.
Unfortunately, the process for providing Fit notes isn’t always well-understood by our hospital colleagues and we often hear our patients have been told things by our colleagues that aren’t always true. Here some myths and facts about this issue.
“Consultants and junior doctors don’t write fit notes. Fit notes are a GP’s job” – FALSE.
“The hospital just don’t have any fit note pads” – FALSE.
“The hospital can only issue notes for one or two weeks at the very most” – FALSE.
“The hospital can’t issue you with a fit note if you’ve only been to outpatients” – FALSE.
“The hospital won’t be able to message me with my fit note or send it to me in the post” – FALSE.
“The doctor who is treating you at the time has a statutory obligation to provide you with a fit note if you need one. This includes all hospital doctors” – TRUE.
“The doctor who is treating you should sign you off for the appropriate time period according to the condition you have been treated for” – TRUE.
“Both private and NHS doctors can issue fit notes” – TRUE.
“It is part of the hospital’s contractual duty to issue a note. Failure to do so is breach of contract” – TRUE.
This is an extract from the guidance from the Department of Work and Pensions about fit notes (also known as doctors’ statements or Med 3s in this text):
Thousands of appointments and telephone calls with GPs are taken up each year by patients requesting fit notes when they could have been issued by hospital doctors providing treatment at the time. Please help us to keep our appointments free for patients who need our input, rather than for administrative paperwork that could have been dealt with by others at the end of your hospital visit.
If you have trouble getting a fit note from the hospital, please contact PALS (Patient Advice Liaison Service) team
What happens when you are referred by your GP to see a specialist?
This describes what you can expect to happen when your GP refers you to see a specialist or consultant, at a hospital or a community health centre.
Why have I been referred?
Your GP will discuss with you and, if appropriate, your carer, about why a referral is being recommended. It is usually because your GP wants a specialist’s help in deciding on the best way to treat your condition. This might involve referring you for tests or investigations that cannot be carried out in a GP surgery. Your GP will also discuss with you what choices there are for where you can be referred.
How will I hear about where and when the appointment is?
GP practices and hospitals use different ways of arranging appointments:
- Your GP practice may give you a reference number and a password you can use to book, change or cancel your appointment online or by In time, more and more GP practices will refer patients in this way.
- You may receive a letter from the hospital confirming your You need to reply as soon as possible and tell the hospital if you can attend on the date offered.
- Alternatively, sometimes patients receive a letter asking them to phone the hospital to make an appointment with a specialist.
Seeing the specialist:
What happens if I need a test or procedure?
Normally, if the specialist thinks you need any test, investigation or surgical procedure, the specialist is responsible for:
arranging the test, investigation or procedure, explaining how and when you will receive a date and what to do
if the date is not suitable for you; and
giving you the results and explaining what they mean (this may be done in a separate appointment with the specialist or by letter).
What happens if I need new medicines?
The specialist might suggest prescribing new medicines for you or might want to
make changes to the medicines that you are already taking.
The specialist is responsible for:
giving you the first prescription for any new medicine that you need to start taking straightaway; and
giving you enough medicine to last at least the first seven days, unless you need to take the medicine for a shorter After this, you will need to contact your GP surgery if another prescription is required.
It is important that you understand whether you need to start any new medicines, or whether the specialist has changed the medicines you already take, so ask the specialist if you are not sure. In some cases, your GP will not be able to prescribe certain medicines, and you will need to continue to receive these from the hospital. You will be told about this at your appointment.
What if I need a Fit Note (previously known as Sick Note)?
If you need to be certified as unfit for work following treatment by a specialist:
The specialist should issue you with a Fit Note
The Fit Note should cover the period they expect you to be unfit to work, or until your next contact with the specialist
You should not need to see your GP to get a Fit Note following hospital treatment, unless your inability to work is unexpectedly prolonged.
What if I need a follow-up appointment?
The specialist will discuss with you whether you should attend hospital for ongoing
follow-up care or whether you should be discharged back to your GP. If the specialist thinks you do need to be seen again, the hospital will give you another appointment or tell you when to expect this. If you do not hear anything, please contact the specialist’s office, rather than your GP surgery.
What do I do if I have any questions?
If you have any specific questions related to your hospital care, your specialist will be able to help you with this, so it is important that you make sure you know how you can contact your specialist’s
If you have any general questions related to your health, your GP surgery will be able to help you.
- If I need to start taking a new medicine straightaway, has the hospital provided me with a supply to last at least seven days (or less, if I need to take the medicine for a shorter period)?
- Do I understand what the medication is for, how to take it and any side effects?
- If appropriate, has a Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) been supplied?
- Do I have the contact details for the specialist’s office if I have a question?
- If I need a Fit Note, has the hospital provided me with one, and does it cover the length of time the specialist expects me to be off work?
- Do I need a hospital follow-up appointment and if so, do I know how this is organised?
- If appropriate, do I have the names and contact details of organisations who can give me more information
or support if I need it?
If you are unsure about any of the questions in the checklist, please make sure you discuss them with a member of staff before you leave hospital.
This information can be made available in alternative formats, such as easy read or large print, and may be available in alternative languages, upon request.
Please contact 0300 311 22 33 or email: england.contactus@nhs.net.
First published: October 2017
This leaflet has been developed with the help and support of NHS England, the British Medical Association and the National Association for Patient Participation: