UK: Risky Communications

 

# 3469

 

During a crisis, such as a pandemic, it is vital that the public receive clear, concise, and unambiguous information about how to proceed. 

 

In the UK, where in some regions flu cases are approaching the epidemic threshold, a couple of simple messages continue to be repeated.  Unfortunately, the reality is not quite so simple. 

 

Here is the general advice being offered.

 

• First . . . don’t run to your GP’s office, they are already overwhelmed. Most people have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care.

 

• And second . . . stay home . . .don’t go to work . . .don’t spread the flu!

 

Simple, right?

 

Except when you throw into the mix that if you need to be off from work for more than 7 days due to illness, you need a doctor’s note.

 

If you sense a bit of a conflict in logic here, you are paying attention.  This is the sort of absurdity that has kept the Monty Python troupe in reruns for decades.

 

Now there’s talk of extending this sick leave to 14 days (despite the headline in the article below, it hasn’t been approved), and that should help since not everyone will be over the flu in 7 days.

 

But they are only discussing the `possibility’ right now.  And only if conditions worsen. 

 

First the article, then some discussion.

 

 

Swine flu sufferers 'should take 2 weeks off'

Friday, July 10, 2009

People with swine flu could stay off work for 14 days without a doctor's note under Government plans to deal with the pandemic.

Currently, employees can be off for seven days, including weekends and bank holidays, without needing a sick note from their GP.

 

But the Government could allow swine flu victims to take two weeks off before they are required to prove they are ill.

 

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The Government is rightly considering possible measures to minimise the risk of further spread of swine-flu and protect public health.

 

"We don't want people to feel obliged to leave the home or return to work when they are still unwell or put an unnecessary burden on GPs in a pandemic.

 

"Contingency plans therefore include the possibility of extending self-certification to 14 days for a limited period."

(Continue . . .)

 

 

So what is an employee to do here?   It’s not a rhetorical question, I’d really like to know.

 

They won’t know until they get well how long it will take (there’s nothing magical about 7 days), and if they are told not to see a GP, then how do they get a note?  

 

Do they go to their GP after they are recovered (who, btw, will be no less busy), and describe their illness, and hope the doctor believes them?

 

I understand the problems. 

 

There no doubt will be people who – wanting a vacation – will say they are sick when they aren’t just to get time off.   But telling people not to see a doctor, but demanding a note if they are off sick, makes no sense.

 

And there’s another mixed message here. One that is potentially even more serious.

 

Swine flu can be fairly mild in some people, little worse than a cold, especially in the beginning.  But even those with mild symptoms are infectious.

 

If the point is to try to limit transmission in the workplace, how does the following make any sense?

 

"Being realistic, there will be some people who think 'I've got a bit of a cold' or 'I'm not that bad' and will stay off work.

 

There's nothing you can do to fix that. Employers can rely on the good morals of their employees and say 'don't abuse it'.

 

So . . to recap. 

 

If you get sick, don’t go to your GP and don’t go to work. . . unless you feel you aren’t all that sick, then you really should go to work.

Since workers are essentially being asked to self-diagnose themselves without the help of a GP, shouldn’t they be able to write their own notes?

 

Just askin’.

 

While I’ve taken a bit of a light-handed approach here (it is after all, the end of a long week), there are serious unanswered questions on how we handle just these sorts of situations in a pandemic.

 

Here in the U.S., where sick leave policies vary from one job to the next, we are probably looking at even greater confusion.  Many employees get no paid sick time at all.

 

While I don’t pretend to have the answers, I do know that we’d better start finding them now, before the fall arrives.

 

Else we risk compounding what is already likely to be a serious crisis.