It had worked out quite well: Up until May 31 of this year, it was possible to take sick leave for up to seven days for mild illnesses of the upper respiratory tract only after consulting a doctor by telephone. Especially in such cases, a personal consultation is not absolutely necessary. But since June 1st, patients have had to go back to the practice or to a video consultation.
Not only do many citizens miss the previous regulation, the German Association of General Practitioners also wants a return to sick leave by telephone. In view of the many cases of colds and corona diseases and the likely increase in incidence, it is "a real nuisance" that this is no longer possible, according to Chairman Ulrich Weigeldt.
As a rule, the patient and family doctor have known each other for a long time, and association representatives say that abuse is very rare. Instead, many patients are now again forced to drag themselves to the doctor's office when they are sick without it being medically necessary. That doesn't help anyone.
So far, toi toi toi, the author has been spared from Corona.
It wasn't long ago that we returned to normal in many areas of public life: no mask requirement in supermarkets and most workplaces, no 2G in retail or in reading rooms, return to face-to-face teaching in schools and universities. And normality also means that you have to go to the doctor if you want to take sick leave. For good reason, personal contact between doctor and patient is part of the professional ethics of the medical profession.
The basis of the telephone sick note, however, is the remote diagnosis. It turns the patient into a service customer, the doctor into a service provider and his practice into a call center. As a compromise, the video consultation hours will be retained for the time being.
But with it, the rules for sick leave have become much more complicated: People who are familiar with the doctor's office can be on sick leave for longer than strangers, and follow-up sick leave is only given after a personal examination by the doctor. It doesn't work without direct patient contact after all.
The author has never taken sick leave over the phone.
