The head of the German Association of General Practitioners, Weigeldt, is calling for sick leave to be allowed again by telephone. The special regulation has been out of force for a good six weeks. In the case of flu infections or mild corona courses, however, this would be an option, says Weigeldt. A resumption is possible.
Germany’s general practitioners are calling for a return to the possibility of taking sick notes by phone. In view of numerous cases of colds and corona diseases, the chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, called it “a real nuisance” that the possibility of determining incapacity for work (AU) by telephone had not been included in standard care. “The telephone AU would provide real relief,” said Weigeldt in Berlin.
Since June 1st, patients have had to go back to the practice or to a video consultation to get sick leave. In the case of minor diseases of the upper respiratory tract, during the corona pandemic until May 31st, this was possible for seven days even after only a telephone consultation.
Weigeldt said: “A personal consultation with the family doctor is not always absolutely necessary, for example in the case of a simple flu infection or a mild course of the corona virus.” In these cases, from the point of view of the head of the association, it would make sense if the general practitioners could write off sick leave for those affected for a few days after a telephone consultation. As a rule, both sides have known each other for a long time, said Weigeldt. Abuse is very rare. “Instead, the patients are now being forced to drag themselves to the doctor’s office when they are sick without it being medically absolutely necessary.”
According to the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), it is possible to return to the option of taking sick leave by telephone. The committee is the body with representatives of the medical profession, health insurance companies and hospitals that decides on the services of the statutory health insurance funds and rules such as sick leave.
In the spring of 2022, this committee discussed intensively “whether it is right to let the previous special regulations for telephone sick leave expire at the end of May 2022,” said a spokeswoman. All sponsors of the G-BA and thus also the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians as the representative of the medical profession agreed at the time that such special rules could be withdrawn because of the calmer pandemic situation at the time. This was done in line with everyday relaxation. “Should the corona pandemic pick up speed again, the Federal Joint Committee can activate its special regulations (…) again,” said the spokeswoman. This can happen in certain regions or, if necessary, nationwide. For this purpose, among other things, an application would have to be submitted to the committee. According to the G-BA spokeswoman, this could come from the sponsors of the committee, such as the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, a sharp increase in corona infections can currently be observed. It is dominated by the omicron subline BA.5. In addition, data and assessments from doctors and pharmacists show that there are unusually many respiratory infections in Germany for this time of year.
