Sick/Isolation note requests related to the Covid-19 pandemic
Thursday, 19 March 2020
Please see the guidance below for information about medical certificate requests in connection with the Covid-19 outbreak.
- If you have Covid-19 symptoms and you are self isolating for seven days, you can and should self-certify for the first seven days as normal if you are unfit to work. You do not need to contact us.
- If you have Covid-19 symptoms and remain unwell for over seven days, the current advice is to visit www.111.nhs.uk and complete an online self-assessment. You do not need to contact us for a certificate but you can get an isolation note by clicking the below link.Get an isolation note
- If somebody in the household has symptoms and you are isolating for fourteen days, as per government advice – GPs cannot and are not the gatekeeper of the statutory sick pay system and can only provide certificates for the purpose of illness, not in relation to government advice regarding self-isolation. Employers are responsible for putting in place arrangements for home/remote working where this is possible. Where it is not, the employee may self-certify and return to work following the relevant absence which their employer may authorise as per government advice.
- If you are in at risk group so following government advice – where you do become unwell during or after this time, point 1 and 2 applies. You do not need to contact us.
- If you are in full time education and you are symptomatic or requiring self-isolation, there is no NHS requirement to issue certification to schools or colleges to confirm absence. These organisations must work with parents and students to ensure that any absence is appropriately recorded, obviating the need for a ‘doctor’s note’. You do not need to contact us.
If you need to get an isolation note to send to your employer as proof you need to stay off work, please click the below link. You do not need to call or visit the surgery.