A clinic letter of attendance is not a sick note – CoE
Falsification of documents, including a medical certificate, is a form of workplace misconduct that can result in dismissal and well as a criminal offence.
Health professionals in Ekurhuleni noticed an increase in the number of patients visiting the city’s healthcare facilities and seeking for sick notes.
According to CoE spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, only in unusual circumstances may a doctor, not a nurse, issue a sick note, as only a doctor has the legal power to do so in a clinic.
“Health practitioners at the city’s clinics issue clinic attendance letters which are not sick notes, and other patients resort to altering the clinic attendance letters to forge sick notes,” said Dlamini.
“A concerned employer visited one of the city’s health facilities with a batch of what their employees presented to be sick notes from the clinic to verify their legitimacy,” said Dlamini.
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Upon investigation, it was discovered that they were clinic attendance letters forged into sick notes.
Explaining what the clinic attendance letter is for, the city’s head of department for Health and Social Development, Dr Gilbert Motlatla, states that a clinic attendance letter does not give a patient permission to be off sick but is rather a confirmation that they visited a particular health facility.
“A clinic attendance letter only confirms that a patient was indeed at the clinic and is mostly given to patients on chronic medication who would ideally spend an hour or two at the clinic to collect their repeat medication or have an appointment.
“In some instances, some employers need the letter hence healthcare workers also indicate the time the patient left the health facility which is also recorded on the clinic database.
“However, in exceptional cases, a sick note may be issued to a patient after seeing a doctor who is the only practitioner with authority to issue one,” Motlatla said.
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“A medical certificate or sick leave cannot be used for routine check-ups, examinations, medical tests, collection of medication from a pharmacy or appointments with other medical practitioners.
“The clinic attendance letter or medical certificate is only issued to patients, and not the persons accompanying them.”
