Debate about telephone sick leave: Medical association criticizes government

epd | In the Debate about the amount of sick leave The family doctors warn the black-red coalition against abolishing sick leave by telephone. “All previous evaluations by the health insurance companies confirm that telephone sick notes do not lead to a higher rate of misuse of sick notes,” said the chairman of the general practitioners’ association, Markus Beier, to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Wednesday).

“Anyone who abolishes sick leave over the phone will be responsible for the fact that in the future countless patients will have to drag themselves to the doctor’s office without any need,” warned the doctor. He spoke of a proven instrument for reducing bureaucracy. “It relieves pressure on our practices and protects our patients from infections in the waiting room,” he said.

Facts instead of “employer fairy tales”

The head of the association accused the employers of having no reliable basis for their demand to abolish telephone sick leave. “We can only hope that politicians stick to the facts instead of falling for the employer fairy tale,” he said.

Beier made it clear that there are clear rules for taking sick notes over the telephone. The patients in the practice would have to be known personally. The sick note may also last a maximum of five days.

The debate was recently fueled by Statements by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). At the weekend he criticized excessive sickness rates in Germany and explained: “One of the causes is certainly the ease of sick leave through telephone sick notes.”