Telephone sick leave should be possible permanently – but according to the federal government, not before the end of January. The family doctors cannot understand this. A corresponding regulation is urgently needed now.
In view of the increasing number of infections, the general practitioners’ association has called for a quicker reintroduction of telephone sick leave. It is incomprehensible that this has not yet happened, said the Federal Chairman of the General Practitioners Association, Markus Beier, to the editorial network Germany.
From his point of view, sick note by telephone would have been an urgently needed relief for family doctors’ practices this winter. A law passed by the Bundestag in the summer by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach stipulates that sick notes should be made possible permanently by telephone. The regulation was introduced during the corona pandemic and initially expired in April. In the future, a first-time sick note due to an acute illness should not only be possible in the practice and via video consultation, but also by telephone.
Beier: Increasingly difficult to cope with the rush
The joint federal committee should develop a guideline by the end of January, as stated on the federal government’s website. According to Beier, the family doctors and their practice teams are already working under high pressure to care for all patients. In many places, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cope with the rush.
This not only has to do with the current wave of infections, but above all with a lack of family doctors. Beier misses the support of those responsible in politics.