§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether family medical practitioners are to continue issuing free of charge sick-note evidence of incapacity when responsibility for sick pay is transferred to employers for the first eight weeks of incapacity; and whether it is the Government's intention to remove this category of certification from the terms of service.
§ Sir George YoungThe Government are discussing arrangements for providing medical evidence for sick pay purposes with representatives of the medical profession; it is not proposed to remove from the terms of service of general medical practitioners the requirement to provide certificates where they continue to be412W reasonably required by patients to support claims for sickness or invalidity benefit made under the Social Security Acts.