Clinics ‘sick notes’ are not on says metro
Sick notes can only be issued by the attending medical doctor.
Clinic attendance letters are not sick notes, warned the CoE HoD for Health and Social Development, Dr Gilbert Motlatla.
The message came after recently discovering that visitors to clinics throughout the metro alter these documents and submit them to employers as sick notes.
“An employer recently presented a local clinic with a batch of sick notes to verify their legitimacy,” said CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.
“Upon investigation, we found the documents were attendance letters forged to represent sick notes.
“Falsification or altering of documents, including medical certificates, is a dismissible misconduct in the workplace and a criminal offence punishable by a court of law,” said Motlatla.
He explained that sick notes from local clinics could only be issued by the attending doctor and not a nurse because a doctor is the only medical practitioner with authority in the facility to write documents of this nature.
“Clinic attendance letters do not give a patient permission to be off sick, but serve as confirmation that they visited a healthcare facility,” explained Dlamini.
“The letter is given to patients visiting these sites on allotted days to collect chronic medication or those with an appointment.
“Some employers require these letters to confirm regular clinic visits, which are also recorded on the clinic database.”
“A medical certificate or sick leave is not to be used for routine check-ups, examinations, medical tests, collecting medication or appointments with other medical practitioners. The clinic attendance letter is issued only to patients, not persons accompanying them,” he said.
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