Dear
Colleague,
OHS
Sick Certification Trial
Despite
the strongest possible objections from the CWU it is BT’s
intention to continue with OHS Sick Certification Trial in
The
main concerns raised are:-
BT
has proposed this trial based on a reasearch document produced by
the Department of Work and Pensions and have been very selective when
presenting their rationale for the trial. BT has focused only on the
parts that support an Occupational Health involvement and have
completely ignored the significant element of the document which
expresses concerns. It
should also be remembered that the document is only a research
document and not a definitive view.
Members
in
BT
continue to avoid answering the very simple question, which has been
asked on several occasions - “If as a result of advice given by
your OHS, our member attends work and that has a significant impact
on an illness that should have been identified at an earlier point,
will BT accept full liability”?
Serious
concerns have been raised that BT seeks to stand between a
face-to-face consultation with the GP who knows and understands their
patient in favour of a phone call with someone who may not even be a
qualified doctor. No account is taken of a diagnosed underlying
health condition; no account is taken that an individual may have
already visited their GP and be receiving treatment; no account is
taken of the impact of someone believing that their GP is redundant
in this process and not visiting them at an early stage; and no
account is taken of the delay to anyone in visiting their GP and
perhaps receiving different/added medication.
It
is believed that the role that the OHS have will ultimately be
undermined. The OHS currently play an important part in helping
members return to work where they have long term illness issues or
underlying health problems. The CWU generally advise members that
they should co-operate with this process but critically for the
union, there is no danger of it cutting across a doctor’s care
of their patient or their treatment regime.
It
remains the view of the CWU that the request for members to phone
the OHS on the 8th day of their absence is no different
from a normal OHS consultation. You have the right to simply refuse
to contact the OHS, or to give permission for access to your medical
records/GP. This is a legal right and you cannot be compelled
to comply. If you
wish to read the relevant information, this can be found at the
Access to Medical Records Act 1988, on the Department of Health web
site. www.dh.gov.uk.
If
you are asked by your manager to contact the OHS during your sick
absence you should respond “ON ADVICE FROM YOUR UNION YOU WILL
NOT BE CONTACTING THEM AND YOU WILL BE MANAGING YOUR SICK ABSENCE IN
CONJUNCTION WITH YOUR GP”.
You cannot be disciplined for failing to adhere to the trial.
It
is important however that members continue to contact their GP in a
timely manner and provide a GP’s Sick Certificate for any
absences that are longer than 7 days.
Members
should continue to support each other, if you are aware that a
colleague on one of the teams involved is the trial could be off sick
for longer than 7 days please contact your Branch Office.
If
any member is unfortunate to be off sick during this trial please do
not hesitate to contact you Branch Office for further advice and support.
In
the meantime the CWU will continue to progress the formal
disagreement with BT Retail and we will keep members informed of
developments.
Yours
sincerely,
Tracy
Buckley
Dave Thompson
Branch
Secretary
Branch Assistant Secretary
John
Turnbull
Rob Alldritt
Branch
Chair
Branch Secretary
Mid