If you have been ill for 7 days or less you don’t need to see a Doctor. You can complete a Self-Certification form yourself. However some employers insist on a Doctor’s note regardless. A Doctor's note under these circumstances involves a charge of £30.

Many employers have their own self-certification forms. If your employer doesn’t have its own form you can download the Self Certification Form. Please print it, fill it in and hand it in to your employer. You do not need to see a Doctor.

If you have been ill for more than 7 days you will need a doctor’s certificate for day 8 of your illness onwards. These certificates are called ‘Fitness to Work’ Certificates.

It would be unusual to need one of these for an illness which you have not already seen a doctor about.

If you have already had a Sick Note (Fit Note) for this illness your Doctor may not need to see you to issue an additional Sick Note. Please complete the form above. We will contact you to let you know when you can collect your Sick / Fit Note or we may contact you to arrange an appointment.

If you have had an operation or been in hospital, it is the responsibility of the hospital team to issue you with a MED3 medical certificate for the entire time that you are expected to be off work, or until your next outpatient appointment with the specialist. We are not able to extend hospital medical certificates in situations where one has been issued for 2 weeks although you have been told you will need 6 weeks off.

The reason for this is simple: if you have just had surgery on your knee, the best person to know how long you will need off work is the knee surgeon. Asking your GP to extend it could mean that the surgeon does not realise your recovery is lagging behind, or that they may need to assess you again. For this reason, in these circumstances we will usually ask you to contact the hospital so that they can arrange the appropriate care for you.