#sick notes

Ontario says it will force employers to scrap requirements for sick notes as part of an effort to cut down on paperwork for family physicians. The change will be part of new legislation tabled by the minister of labour in coming weeks, a government official says. The amendments would eliminate the need for a doctor's note from employees who want to use part or all of their three days of provincially-mandated annual sick leave. Employers will retain the right to require another form of evidence that an employee is ill, which could include self-attestations or a receipt for over-the-counter medication, the official said.

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Recently, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride announced measures to reform PIP (Personal Independence Payment). It's a benefit given to disabled people, whether they are employed or not, to help provide support for the extra costs incurred due to being disabled. PIP can be paid on anything you need, such as a carer, adaptions, your bills or a night out (yes, disabled people are entitled to a social life I'm NOT arguing with anyone about this!) On top of the changes to sick notes, the announced reforms are an assault on disabled people to desperately cling to power!

Below is an explanation of PIP and the reforms so people can answer the open consultations, call for evidence, and sign a petition. We need as many people in the UK as possible to answer both to try to stop these reforms from happening.

What is PIP?

The Tories are saying PIP is a one-size-fits-all benefit, which again is a lie as PIP is designed to look at how your disability affects your daily life and how difficult it makes it for you to participate in society, not whether you have this specific disability so it only affects you in these ways! It doesn't matter whether you're diagnosed or not, either. There are two categories they look at throughout, known as the 'Daily Living Component' and the 'Mobility component' The process involves 50 pages you have to fill out (link to Turn2US for proof https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/claiming-personal-independence-payment-pip/fill-in-the-personal-independence-payment-pip-form#:~:text=You%20usually%20get%20the%20paper,it%20is%2050%20pages%20long.)

With hundreds of letters from Doctors as proof of your condition! And then an assessment in which you will answer all sorts of demeaning questions, give in-depth answers that you don't feel comfortable sharing, and hope the assessor has understood how it affects your life and written it down properly and that you'll get the right amount of money at the end of this assessment or re-assessment.

To get the standard rate in both components, you need 8 points; to get the enhanced rate, you need 12 points.

They'll then give you two, three, five, or ten years (10 years is known as a fixed-term award and a light-touch review) to undergo the terror of the PIP assessment again.

The reforms proposed and why they're terrifying!

The reforms they've suggested so far are

One-off grants for aids and appliances

receipts to then be claimed back at a later date

the changing of eligibility for PIP or the category 'Long Term sickness'

Vouchers instead of cash payments

If you've read those four options and thought they were cruel, infantilising and impossible to make work, then you'd be right.

As a disabled person, bills don't magically disappear. You still have council tax and rent to pay or a carer. Will landlords and councils accept these vouchers? A one-off grant won't work here either. The vouchers also signal that we can't be trusted to pay for our own needs and aren't responsible—which is far from the truth!

Aids and treatments are already covered by the NHS, so this is redundant and will be futile, especially when you consider the long waiting lists for mental health treatment (and just generally) on the NHS—and even if they aren't, we do know that and will use PIP to save up for it, etc. It's easier and more economical to give us cash payments.

To have the receipts to claim back expenses, we need to have the money to spend on said expenses.

Changing the eligibility will (much like these other suggestions) put more disabled people at risk. If you want mental health to improve: Fix the NHS, wages, sort out the cost of living crisis and fund the research/support for Long Covid sufferers.

How you can help! - UK-based people, plz sign everyone else. Please reblog & signal boost!

If you live in the UK, there are currently two consultations open ( the sick note one closes on 8 July 2024, and the PIP one closes on 22 July 2024). Ideally, the responses will be used to decide whether these reforms go ahead.

Here are links to the two reforms for PIP and changes to the sick note process.

Please note that the PIP consultation ( the first link) is 6 pages long and must be completed in one go. It's also filled with typos, repeated questions, and very difficult wording in many places, so be on the lookout for that! People are rightfully complaining about its accessibility, so the link and end date may change. I will update this post if this happens. I also know answering stuff like this is overwhelming, so here is a thread by PeachyInWales on Twitter about how they approached the consultation. If I see any samples by any disability activists or organisations, I will post them here, too!

This second link is the second consultation or call to evidence. Which GPs are being stripped of the ability to sign sicknotes for people on benefits, which is again ridiculous!

And the last link is a petition from SCOPE to stop the government from demonising disabled people further.

Ultimately, we're trying to stop a benefit that is difficult to get and barely covers costs for many applicants from getting worse.

If I've missed anything then let me know! I'm sorry the post was so long, but it's a lot to go through! Again, UK-based people, please share your thoughts if you can and sign the petition! If you are not currently living in the UK, please share these links or the post so other UK-based users can see this and try to help.

Doctors are to be told to sign fewer people off work with sick notes and instead help them to remain in employment under plans being considered for next month’s Budget.

The Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are examining how to reverse a marked rise in the number of people off work with long-term sickness in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Telegraph can reveal that one idea under consideration is a new approach to how GPs decide whether people are too sick to work.

Doctors would be encouraged to focus on recommending ways people with long-term illnesses can continue to work with support rather than using sick notes to authorise them to drop out of the labour market entirely.

A government source said: “The mental health benefits of work are well established. We want to do all we can to encourage as many people as possible to stay in work with the relevant support in place to help them do so, including signposting them to that support at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, will put getting people off out-of-work benefits and into employment at the heart of his Budget on March 15, arguing that it will help to deliver economic growth.

...

(Sorry about the Torygraph link, it’s pretty much the only place I could find that was reporting the story)

Sign the petition here:

Hi Anon,

You do not have to disclose the nature of your surgery to your employer for any reason. All they need to know is the dates that you need to be off for sick leave.

When you have your surgery and your GP does your sickline, ask them to put ‘personal surgery’ on the sickline. This will keep things confidential.

I shall be spending time watching an adorable doctor gush about the brilliant anime Cells At Work until I run out of joy.

Dr. Hope demonstrates just how brilliantly the show is written by accidentally spoiling himself left and right by going on delighted explanations about the biology being shown, thinking he’s over explaining stuff and then oh wait they included that cool!

Currently only have 4 more episodes to watch, so sad, might have to risk Dr. Hope reacting to other things...

Nick Frost

Facts

March 28, 1972

English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and author

Filmography

Declan [ The Nevers: 2021]

Gus [ Truth Seekers: 2020]

Bajie [Into the Badlands: 2017-2019]

Ian [Sick Notes: 2017-2018]

Jeremy [ Mr. Sloane: 2014]

PC Danny Butterman [Hot Fuzz: 2007]

Mike [ Spaced: 1999-2001]

Appereance

Brunette

Brown eyes

1.70m

Roleplay

Playable: young adult, adult