Referred By Employer to See Independent Doctor

[dandan9169]

I am currently on the sick from work and have been for the past 8 weeks, my employer sent me a independent doctor at a company called Imass.

I had Imass report sent to me and they agreed with my GP I am suffering from depression. One of the worry things when I read the doctors report was he stated the following under this sub title: Recommended Adjustments:

In my opinion, it is likely that he would be considered to be covered by the disability provisions of the Equality Act as his condition has substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activity. Ultimately this a legal mater and not a medical matter .

Can anyone please explain what this means?

[Aime]

Hi Dandan, I have twice in the past been referred to an independent doctor for both my polycythemia and arthritis. On both occasions I am covered by the Equality Act which I was told actually protects me. My employer has to make reasonable adjustments to my hours, workplace, etc should I need that and you cannot be fired because of your disability without being offered the adjustments or perhaps a different job.

Hope this makes you feel better. Having an MPD gets us all down at times, worth speaking to a sympathetic GP. I ended up on sertraline and feel so much better and ready to cope easier with my MPD.

Remember you are not alone!!

Kind regards Aime x

[Hidden]

Not sure what they mean by ultimately this is a legal matter, would be interested to have it clarified. Do they mean you are covered legally by the Equality Act?. Sorry not much help Dandan. I too struggle to hold down my job, it gets me down quite a lot. I can go for weeks and I'm great, then bam, the dreaded fatigue kicks in and I just feel the life drain out of me. Colleagues during this time always comment on how tired I look (which doesn't help). Sometimes it makes me feel so desperate, I just sit at my desk in quiet desperation. I am constantly exploring ways to retire early. Just know you are not alone, it is so hard to deal with our condition and hold down a full time job. Don't mean to wish my life away but roll on retirement.

[Aime in reply to Hidden]

Hi, really think you should speak to your GP. If yours is not sympathetic, get one who is as honestly the anti anxiety tablets which I was so unwilling to take have been great and enable me to look at "a glass half full, instead of half empty." They help me cope with the ups and downs of life plus the MPD we all are coping with as an extra!

I have had to adapt my sleeping to go to bed really early and sleep when I come home from work sometimes too. I am lucky in that I can work from home sometimes so that gives me a reprieve on bad days. Would that be a possibility for you?

Please do speak to someone like a GP about how you are feeling and coping with your MPD because it can get easier to cope with. I have also just had another shoulder op to cope with and definitely coping better with my old joints as well as my MPD because of the sertraline! Best wishes Aime xx

[jane13]

my guess is yr doc means your being covered by the disability provisions of the Equality Act is a decision to be made on legal grounds not medical.

[Shelly1960]

If your condition is recognised as a disabil I ty that is a matter of law not a medical opinion