Sickness Certification FIT Notes – DWP & Private
Update to fit note guidance 2023
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has published new guidance for GPs and other healthcare professionals using fit notes (statements of fitness for work) and GPCE was involved in its development. Fit note - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This guidance from NHS Employers follows a government announcement that a wider range of professions will be able to sign a fit note from Friday 1 July 2022
Further detailed guidance here
A fit note training package is also available for all healthcare professionals, including doctors. GP IT systems are expected to be updated by the start of September. However, GPs should check with individual suppliers as they are operating on different timescales.
Although GPs are required to provide Med3 “fit notes” and also to complete some other forms from the DWP, including the ESA113 and the DS1500 (a fee is payable for the latter) , requests for medical certificates and reports relating to employment matters may also come from a number of other bodies and, in principle, these are usually chargeable
A brief GP guide for to the benefits system
Sickness of Less Than 7 days
You are not obliged to provide a 'sick certificate' for your patients for periods of less than seven days. In these circumstances patients should self certify as below. We have produced a letter for your patient to take to his/her employer to explain this. However, you may of course issue a private certificate you wish.
Here is a link to an ACAS booklet for businesses Managing Attendance and Employee Turnover
Employees Statement of Sickness Forms (Self certificate or SC2)
Individuals may make a statement of sickness for the first week of sick leave, and GPs are not required to issue certification for periods of less than 7 days. You can download a copy of the HMRC SC2 Self Certificate Form from
GP Fit Certificates - Statement of Fitness for Work (Med 3)
The fit note was introduced to replace the old sick note on 6 April 2010. Doctors issue fit notes to individuals to provide evidence of the advice the doctor has given about the individual’s fitness for work. The fit note allows doctors to advise that individuals “may be fit for work” taking into account the doctor’s advice, or that they are “not fit for work”.
Doctors use fit notes to record details of the functional effects of their patient’s condition so that individuals and employers can consider ways to help the individual return to work. Fit notes can be hand-written or computer-generated and printed out. Fit notes should be issued by hospital doctors if someone is receiving treatment in hospital, or otherwise by GPs.
The certificate has space to recommend whether or not you need to see the patient again at the end of the statement period. There is a reduction in the maximum duration of statement during the first 6 months of illness to 3 months and the form has increased space for comments and some tick boxes to indicate simple adjustments or adaptations that could aid the patients return to work.
This is not to suggest that we should suddenly become occupational health doctors, but that it may facilitate a discussion around returning to work, and we can use our clinical judgement on what we feel may be done to achieve this. This advice is not binding for employers and if they cannot implement the advice then the certificate is valid for the patient to remain off work without need for a further consultation.
DWP change to fit note – from 6 April 2022
- On 6 April DWP changed regulations so that fit notes do not require a signature in ink to authorise them. Instead, a new template is being delivered that is authorised by the name of the doctor being included in the form. This means fit notes can be completed, authorised and sent digitally from 6 April. The main points:
- GPs’ names will be automatically captured by their IT systems from their user login
- The exact date the system will be updated depends on your system supplier
- Until the new template is delivered, continue to use the current version, which still requires a signature in ink to be valid
- Until the systems are fully updated both the previous and new versions are legally compliant and employers have been told they must accept both
- If patients are not able to receive the fit note digitally or require a paper copy, then this must be provided (but does not require an ink signature)
- If there are issues then the form can still be completed by hand and authorised by the doctor writing their name, or signing the fit note in the relevant place and will still be legally compliant
- Hospitals will still be using paper fit notes ordered from DWP, but from 6 April this should be on the new template
Read more about these changes on Gov.uk
Here is some further information you may find useful:
- Occupational Health Guide to Operation Recovery Times
- DWP fit certificate guide notes for GPs
- DWP Doctor help line 0800 022 42 33
- Benefits certification and working for ATOS
Fraud warning! A number of patients have been fraudulently amending the digits of number of weeks off and Counter Fraud advise that this is best be written in words and figures i.e. 3 (three) weeks. We would recommend and endorse this good practice
