Sick leave by telephone could be possible again
Sick leave by telephone could be possible again from December 7 - and then be permanently available. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) will discuss a corresponding regulation in a plenary session on December 7, as a spokeswoman told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. The regulation should then take effect on the same day. This was first reported by ARD.
Telephone sick notes were introduced during the coronavirus pandemic to relieve the pressure on GP practices. However, the regulation initially expired in April. In the summer, the Bundestag then passed a law by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to make sick notes by telephone possible on a permanent basis.
However, this only applies to patients who are already known to the respective GP practice and do not have severe symptoms. The law then also passed the Bundesrat - but the Joint Federal Committee, the highest self-governing body in the German healthcare system, has yet to pass it.
In view of the rising number of respiratory infections, Markus Beier, Federal Chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, called for more speed in the reintroduction of telephone sick notes just this week. The fact that this has not yet happened is "completely incomprehensible", Beier told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland newspapers.
From December 7, the Federal Joint Committee will discuss the possibility of making telephone sick notes a permanent feature. On December 7, sick leave requests can be made via telephone again.
Source: www.ntv.de
