Pilot
schemes looking at alternatives to sicknote
certification are to be vastly expanded.
The
pilots, a key part of plans by GPs to move towards giving up responsibility for
signing sick-notes by April 2006, were due to start in four firms next month.
But
news of the trials led to a flurry of interest from employers wanting to test
alternatives.
At
least 20 firms are now scheduled to be taking part, although this also means
the start date is likely to be put back to January.
Dr
Barbara Kneale, occupational
health and safety adviser at Peugeot Citroen, which will be running a pilot at
its Ryton plant in Coventry,
said there was a lot of interest in the scheme.
The
extra interest means a fourth model will be tested.
Along
with using in-house occupational health (OH) departments, nurse-based call
centres and a remote OH service, a GP-based model is being developed.
This
would see employees going to their GP as normal but, if appropriate, they could
then be referred ‘down the corridor’ to an OH practitioner, Kneale said.
