SICK NOTES OR MEDICAL CERTIFICATES
  

Information for patients and their employers
 
Do you need a doctor's certificate in the first seven days of an illness?
No, illnesses that last less than one week are usually minor and self-limiting and you may not require a visit to the doctor. It can be difficult for your doctor to judge whether or not you are incapable of working in this situation. The certificate only indicates that you attended the surgery on a specific date complaining that you had a minor illness.
In general, the Department of Health and Social Security, employers and doctors do not recommend that you attend your doctor for sickness certification alone.  Your GP is only required to issue a certificate if your absence from work through sickness lasts more than seven days.
  What do you need?
For the FIRST FOUR DAYS of any illness you do not require any form of certification.  (It is for you to decide if you are fit to work).
For the NEXT THREE DAYS (including Saturdays and Sundays) you must fill in a self-certification form (available from your employer).
After the FIRST SEVEN DAYS you will need a doctor's certificate and will have to attend the doctor to get a Department of Social Security sicknote, either a 'Med 3' or 'Med 5'.
What are private sick notes?
Some employers or insurance schemes will ask you to provide a private sicknote.  The surgery will charge you a £10 fee to provide you with a private 'sick note'.


BREAST SCREENING

Breast screening by mammography is available to all women aged 50 to 70.  All eligible women will be invited every 3 years for this simple test that takes no longer than 5minutes.

The purpose of the breast screening programme is to help save lives.  The earlier breast cancer is detected, the better the chances of survival. If you would like more information on breast screening please visit www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/breastscreen

If you are eligible for breast screening but you have not had a mammogram you can contact the local Breast Screening Service and arrange your own appointment on 020 7601 8305.

This test is not available to anyone under 50 years.  If you are under 50 and think you may have found a breast lump.  Please book an appointment to see your GP.

The Health Protection Agency has prepared advice for the public and for healthcare professionals on swine influenza.

If you feel unwell ...If you have flu-like symptoms and have recently travelled to Mexico, stay at home and contact either your GP or NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

Love Women, Ovarian cancer action’s awareness and fundraising campaign for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March 2009.

Bridget Jones is not alone in turning to self-help mantras to boost her spirits, but a study warns they may have the opposite effect.

A 19-year-old man has died after contracting swine flu in London, health authorities confirm.

Unions attack ministers' rejection of a proposal for a national recruitment and retention premium for junior pharmacists.

People who have a gene flaw and live alone in middle-age are at highest risk of developing dementia, a study suggests.

Changes recommended after a fatal drug slip-up eight years ago have not been implemented, MPs say in a review of patient safety.

A mother of a prominent ME sufferer and campaigner admits aiding and abetting the suicide of her daughter.

Overweight volunteers will receive shopping vouchers as they lose weight on a new scheme introduced in Essex.

A search for the source of a maggot infestation at the Royal Children's Hospital in Aberdeen will continue at the weekend.

People should not buy anti-flu drug Tamiflu over the internet without a prescription, experts warn.

A New Zealand company seeks EU approval to market honeybee venom to help people with arthritis ease their pain.

AP - It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law. The same marijuana smoke that doctors can recommend to ease cancer patients' suffering must soon come with a warning saying it causes the disease.

AP - No matter how unusual their lives may have been so far, Michael Jackson's children now face a universal trauma felt by all kids who suddenly lose a parent.

AP - As swine flu runs rampant in the Southern Hemisphere winter, world health experts are concerned that some hard-hit countries have been reluctant to take forceful measures to protect public health.

AP - With swine flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is — so far — more a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire. The new virus, H1N1, has a protein on its surface that is not very efficient at binding with receptors in people's respiratory tracts, researchers at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

AP - When carpenter Greg Douglas crashed his pickup truck, his toolbox hit him and smashed his ribs and collarbone. After a month in the hospital, the medical bills hit him even harder, totaling $165,000.

AP - A federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers from the drug being tested, including death.

Reuters - Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.

AFP - Uganda will pass a law banning female genital mutilation, which is rampant among pastoralist tribes in the country's eastern region, the president said in a statement Friday.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Medication used to control asthma may be used every day, without the fear of becoming addicted, the American Academy of Family Physicians says.

Reuters - The combination of two drugs -- Femara (letrozole) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) -- could be of benefit in infertile women of advanced reproductive age undergoing intrauterine insemination, results of a study indicate.

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Cumulative and new figures are subject to revision
17 June 2009 12:00 GMT

As of 17:00 GMT, 15 June 2009, 76 countries have officially reported 35, 928 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 163 deaths.

As of 07:00 GMT, 12 June 2009, 74 countries have officially reported 29,669 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 145 deaths.