Are doctor's notes for off sick children hurting the NHS?

KentOnline / KMTV

They have warned it is an unnecessary use of NHS resources already under huge pressure.  We spoke to John Ribchester, a GP from the Whitstable Medical Practice on The Kent Morning Show earlier.

Transcript

00:00Well, we're joined now by Dr. John Ribchester, GP from the Whitstable Medical Practice. Dr.

00:06Ribchester, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Can you just explain to us

00:11how frequent it is that you're seeing parents bring their children to yourself or to your

00:16colleagues just so that they can avoid having to pay a fine for taking their children out

00:22of school?

00:24Good morning. Well, as yet, the numbers aren't great, but it is something which is mounting.

00:31And whereas we are totally sympathetic to schools trying to tackle the problem of people

00:36staying off for no reason, this isn't really what the NHS is for.

00:42How do you strike that balance then? How are parents meant to know? Of course, they're

00:45not doctors themselves. How are they meant to know when their child is really suffering

00:49and should see the GP, or it's best not to come in?

00:54Yes. Well, I mean, I think most of us recognise when things are minor ailments, I mean, minor

01:01coughs, minor colds, these sorts of things, sadly, won't respond to antibiotics and they

01:10don't require a medical opinion. And whereas we'd never turn anybody away at a time when

01:16access to general practice and nurses is a real problem, despite the fact we're offering

01:21more appointments than ever before, it does mean that people with more serious illnesses

01:27just can't get to see their GP or nurse.

01:29Yes. What would you like to see change in terms of these policies from schools? Obviously,

01:35they're allowed to set their own rules. Government does have guidelines, but there's no set rule

01:40on what kind of proof needs to be put in place from, you know, what kind of proof parents

01:46need to give in order to take their child out of school.

01:50I think it is a difficult problem. And I think the schools really need to work harder with

01:55the parents and the pupils to, you know, stress the importance of attending with very minor

02:01problems and to try to get people into school who perhaps have got out of the habit through

02:07Covid, perhaps see their parents working from home, so think that maybe school is a bit

02:13of an option rather than something which really will help them with their life chances.

02:19And of course, we've seen attendance levels fall significantly following Covid. Perhaps

02:25people are a lot more wary if there are flus, viruses, illnesses going round. Parents don't

02:30want to take their children out. Everyone's got a heightened perception of colds and flus

02:34as well following on from the pandemic. Have you seen this impact your practice in particular

02:41and other areas in Kent?

02:44I think what we have seen is an increase in anxiety and depression across the board, but

02:52particularly in people of school age. This is a tragedy. There's multiple causes of this,

03:01one of which was Covid, which shut down people's lives for a couple of years. And those really

03:08important formative years for children were lost. And somehow or another, society has

03:15to try to encourage children to interact more, perhaps spend less screen time, and generally

03:24get back into society, which will be of benefit not just to them, but to everyone else they

03:30interact with.

03:31Absolutely. And no surprise, this has created quite a bit of debate this morning. Kent Online

03:36has been running a poll just after 8.15 this morning, so it's not been up for too long,

03:42but 94% of readers have said that schools shouldn't be asking parents to provide a doctor's

03:48note to prove pupils with coughs and colds are ill. So does this ultimately go back to

03:53the schools then? Because parents are only going to try and do what they can to avoid

03:57paying the fine if they think their child shouldn't be in school. Should we be looking

04:03at the schools to change this? Should we maybe even going further and asking the government

04:06to make sure that schools aren't having these type of rules in place?

04:10Obviously, I don't work in a school, but I think a partnership between schools, parents

04:17and the children themselves to try to get people to be more engaged with the schools

04:23and just to have an honest contract, really, that clearly if someone is ill, to the extent

04:30that they can't study, or indeed that they might transmit an infectious disease to somebody

04:35else, best that they're not in a school. But the numbers have gone up far beyond the amount

04:41of diseases out there, and this does need to be tackled.

04:45And if there was a system where schools don't require a medical note for a child to be off

04:50sick, aren't there concerns that parents might be then abusing the systems in some

04:55case? And we speak about the fines for taking your child out rising to £80, and talking

05:01about that during February half-term when it's more expensive in many places to take

05:06someone on holiday.

05:08Well, the whole cost of holidays is another subject completely, and I really sympathise

05:15with the parents. If it costs them two or three times as much to take their child out

05:20during the official holiday, why wouldn't they consider going the week before? That's

05:26perhaps something for the travel industry to think about, because they're encouraging

05:31truantism, really, by this massive hiking cost if you take your child out during school

05:38holiday time.

05:40And Dr John Ripchester, I know you've got patients that are waiting to be seen this

05:44morning, so we'll let you go in just a moment's time. I was just wondering if you could paint

05:47a picture for how strained the system is at this time. Obviously, we are in sort of height

05:53of winter at the moment.

05:55Yeah, I mean, it is difficult. I mean, as I said earlier, we are offering more appointments

06:02than ever before, but despite that, access to general practice and nurses is a national

06:08problem. The urgent treatment centres do help, but they're under pressure now as well.

06:14So by all means, we're here for you. If it's necessary to see a doctor or an urgent treatment

06:21centre, please come. But just a little bit of pause for thought to think, is this for

06:27the wrong reason, i.e. a certificate for a school? That's not really what the NHS is

06:33equipped to provide, I'm afraid.

06:36Dr John Ripchester, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

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