Fit Notes are also known as a “Statement of a fitness for work” or a “Med3 form” and were introduced in 2010 to replace the “sick note”. Doctors issue fit notes to people to record the advice they have given about their fitness for work.
From January 2016 the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) will start to collect anonymous data on fit notes issued in England.
The data will help the Department of Work and Pensions to gain a better understanding of sickness absence and develop policy to help people with health conditions return to work earlier.
The data being extracted will be fully anonymized and will include:-
* The number of computer-generated fit notes issued
* The number of patients recorded as “unfit” or “maybe unfit” for work
* Fit note duration
* Gender
* Health condition type aggregated to high-level diagnosis code
* Location, including Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area
* Whether workplace adaptations were recommended
NO identifiable individual patient information will be extracted. DWP analysts will only have access to anonymous statistics – not to any information that could identify a patient. The data collection will include fit notes issued from December 2014 but this data will exclude data from patients who have registered an objection subsequently for data extraction.
For further information Patient Information on Plans for Collecting Anonymous Fit Note Data
If you wish to register an objection to your data being extracted please complete Care Data Opt Out Form and return it to the surgery as soon as possible.
