Sick Leave ( merged )

[ModlrMike]

COs have a right to know how much time away from work their members have been given. They don't have a right to know why. There is no evidence in what you've presented so far to indicate that medical confidentiality was breached.

 

[Mediman14]

COs have a right to know how much time away from work their members have been given. They don't have a right to know why. There is no evidence in what you've presented so far to indicate that medical confidentiality was breached.

Yup, you are right, CO's does the right to know how much time away work, but over riding a medical officer with excused duties seems to be a bit to far. I see this different. I am pretty sure that there was a CANFORGEN indicating that orders given by a MO's are to be followed (regarding Medical Advice). The reason why Members are given time off by MO's is none of a CO's business. With that in mind, how is a CO to determine what is appropriate time off with not looking at why in the first place time off was given by an MO.

 

[Jarnhamar]

If I was a CO and a sections worth of members of  my unit were all getting sick leave with similar MELs I would feel that it's due diligence on my part to investigate if there was some kind of work place situation I was unaware of leading to the loss of work.

 

[ballz]

Yup, you are right, CO's does the right to know how much time away work, but over riding a medical officer with excused duties seems to be a bit to far. I see this different. I am pretty sure that there was a CANFORGEN indicating that orders given by a MO's are to be followed (regarding Medical Advice). The reason why Members are given time off by MO's is none of a CO's business. With that in mind, how is a CO to determine what is appropriate time off with not looking at why in the first place time off was given by an MO.

You stated the CO asked the Base Surgeon to review it... it doesn't sound like the CO overruled anything. It sounds like the Base Surgeon made the conclusions that some of the sick leave wasn't warranted and advised him of general information not specific to any individual.

 

[AKa]

We had a similar situation at one of my units.  There was a rash of prolonged sick leaves that almost inevitably followed some type of performance/conduct counselling.  I know correlation does not equal causation but it was starting to smell fishy.  So we asked the BSurg to review.  The BSurg came back and told us that he considered that not all were medically required and he adjusted accordingly.

A doctor friend of mine told me that some clinicians (not just military) find it simply easier to write a sick chit than coach/advise/suggest the patient address a workplace conflict.  And admittedly, in some cases it might be the best course of action.

I am not at all shy anymore about asking the BSurg to review a file.  It can also be an opportunity to discuss whether the member's needs would be better met if they were posted to the JPSU.

Cheers,

AK

 

[Blackadder1916]

. . .  At one point, in my previous unit, a total 8 of Medics had been given leave/ excused duties in the same period of time by several Medical Officers. Although the reason(s) for excused duties are the members confidentiality, one can't help but wonder why 8 people in the same time frame??

. . .  the Commanding Officer being concerned, ordered the BSurg to see exactly what was given to the Members. Here is the end result;
      - Some peoples excused duties was reduced
      - Some people was ordered back to work
. . .

Maybe I'm reading a bit more into your scenario than is the actual but if this situation occurred in a medical unit then the CO would (or should) be not only concerned with soldiers under his command taking undue advantage of sick leave but also of the perhaps improper granting of sick leave by medical officers who may also be under his command.  While "no officer who is not a medical officer shall exercise command over a medical officer in respect of his treatment of a patient" the CO of a medical unit is still responsible for the proper provision of medical services to the elements that he is tasked to support including his own.  And if the CO is also a medical officer then he may also be the senior medical authority.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Yup, you are right, CO's does the right to know how much time away work, but over riding a medical officer with excused duties seems to be a bit to far. I see this different. I am pretty sure that there was a CANFORGEN indicating that orders given by a MO's are to be followed (regarding Medical Advice). The reason why Members are given time off by MO's is none of a CO's business. With that in mind, how is a CO to determine what is appropriate time off with not looking at why in the first place time off was given by an MO.

I had a weird feeling reading this thread so I did a quick search of your posts from a few years ago leading up until now. I may be wrong but your previous posts and these recent ones about anonymous people at your work you seem randomly concerned about kind of paint a picture for me about whats going on. Maybe a series of events leading up to something? It's none of my business but you might want to consider taking a read of the posts you've made on the forum and maybe seeking some assistance from the mods here to delete or modify some stuff for persec reasons.