Morning yesterday afternoon I finally had the appointment that my employer requested in December.
He come to the conclusion im still not fit to work. That I do not have cfs/me. The fatigue is all caused by the papillary thyroid cancer, the two operations the two radio active radiation pills the fact I also lost my parathyroids as well as thyroid and on meds.
he suggested my contract to be terminated and take ill health early retirement from this job.
ive only been in the nhs pension about 10 years and been off sick since feb 2013 to to date except when I tried to return phased return to work aug to dec 2013 but became worse and went sick.
will need to find out if I still get my esa I dont think I get much from works pension
Is it a suggestion, or is it binding? They make me so cross when they don't let you take your sick leave without hounding you. I think there's information on the Internet about the pension fund and early retirement. Do they pay your pension contributions up to normal retirement date in these circumstances. Concentrate on getting well.
Work waned to know if I was fit for work so he going to suggest I take early retirement but he has to gather letters etc fro dr endocrinologist and oncologist to support this and then forward it to someone higher up to make the final decision
I presume you have run out of sick pay by now? So it makes little difference whether you remain on the books or not, as far as your income is concerned. But it does make a real difference to your employer, because then they can fill your job permanently. It does not stop you returning to work, although there is probably a limit to the hours you can do for the NHS before they stop your payments.
Pension contributions are based on income, so they wil not be making any anyhow.
There is an option for the NHS to enhance your pension, ie add a few more years than you have already done. It is worth asking, although I suspect they will be meaner than when my husband went through the process of il health retirement 25 years ago.
ESA is totally different, and you will be assessed separately. Its worth asking the CAB for support going through that. And it might just be worth asking your union to negotiate any enhancement to your pension. At the very least having an advocate duces your stress.
Im not up to working was on a contract for 23hrs 45 which got reduced to 20 hrs.
at the moment im sleeping 15 hrs aday and depressed so work last on my mind but my partner did say this will take the stress away from me that I had with them since 2013
Hmmm, what's the pay off? They can't sack you for being sick without taking it to a tribunal, which should give you some money. To avoid that, they should be willing to give you a decent bribe to leave. Esp as they are saying that it is a temporary condition caused by the cancer treatment (from which you will eventually) recover.
Don't forget that you accrue holiday (paid) while sick - have you taken it all and been paid for it?
Not sure about pay off. Decision only made yestetday aftetnoon and now they write to my employer. I dont think I be paid anything as got no holiday as not worked.
my partner said they probably go down this route so they dont have to go tribnal route.
when sick pay finished the work had a scheme whete depending how long you been there they would pay x long full pay and x long half pay that finished june 2014
Its not true, they can sack you if there is no realistic prospect of you ever working again. As an employer I have been through all this with ACAS when I had someone with terminal cancer who didn't want to stop, but could no longer do her job safely, and I had no other work to move her to. Anyway, what is the point of refusing to leave? Having someone out on long term sick leave puts extra pressure on the ones left behind, and I think its perverse to refuse early retirement if there is no benefit to the employee. But it also means that there are all sorts of legal hoops to jump through which are of no benefit to anyone but the lawyers.
Sweetpea has no income from her employers now, at least if she takes early retirement she will get some. You would have to look at the rules on the particular scheme, but certainly my ex's early retirement pension required a huge extra input from the employer. They've paid him 25% salary, index linked, since the age of 39 and he is 65 now, with no sign of popping his clogs! He did eventually recover, and is now working full time for someone else, so it really wasn't a bad deal at all.
Getting it all done and dusted makes a huge difference psychologically. You are free to think about your future, and you know exactly where you are financially. Lets be honest, if you do recover, are you going to run back to the NHS for a job? Of course not!
I think occupational health are often a bit crass in the way they handle things, but its not unreasonable for an employer who is paying way, way more than the legal minimum sick pay to make sure their sick employee really cannot do more for the money. We know the job probably contributed to the illness, but that is a different argument.
got someone ringing back from finance side of macmillian. To discuss early retirement. Also wont really know much till I get figures from the nhs pension. Which wont happen till work get letter and call me in.
plus got four other small pensions that I only contrinbuted too when working with them so they were only a few years each. Not sure if they can be taken or they wait till actual retirement age.
With my employer's hat on, I agree, but I also know how hard it is to get rid of people. What confused me was that the occupational health didn't say she had an incurable illness (eg ME or CFS), but that she was suffering form the after affects of treatment - which would mean that they thought she would be able to work again at some time in the future - that's not good from an ESA point of view, but might be for a tribunal. I'd probably just throw in the towel and take early retirement, but always worth trying to see if there's a pay-off to be had.
I don't think that the fact that its the after effects of treatment means that its interpreted as curable. Occupational health have a different agenda to the DE, they are looking at long term working prospects for that employer.
Saying you can't dance because your leg has been cut off, isn't saying you will be back on Strictly one day! They are saying 'this is the cause', its real, not malingering or even psychosomatic. And its not going to get better any time soon. I wouldn't interpret it as making any comment at all on long term prospects.
This report isn't directly relevant to the ESA, really. When they assess her for the ESA they will take into account any medical reports submitted, and possibly do their own. But they are interested in what the claimant can do, regardless of the diagnosis. Can you walk 20 metres? Can you climb stairs? Can you prepare a simple meal? Wash yourself? Make sure you tire yourself out the day before an assessment, so they see you at your worst. And never, ever, admit that you have better days!!!!
My ex had 'genuine' ME, a secondary infection from catching Epstein Barr disease at work. At the time it was a struggle getting a diagnosis, nowadays you get the diagnosis when the doc gets bored with scratching his head, but with no tests to back it all up!
But there was a lot of psychological stuff going on as well, as a result of his bosses being two faced craven gits. It was very messy, and in the end he only started to recover when I divorced him.
Oh well, all's well that ends well, and he is happily remarried, as am I.
2012 lost voicr for 11 weeks told laryngitis and viral infection was tired b4 this got worst through 2012 with voice coming and going. And on admin duties as could talk.
Went private in march 12 lump found and sent for speech and language thearpy.
In august they asked out come of lump which I had forgotten. Nov 12 came back benigh but I insisted it removed.
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Back from 1st endo appointment😨
I need help! I had 1/2 thyroid removed & was told I had graves disease. I've still been very ill, but blood work is normal so they say Im ok
Reality check in worse way
Appointment as aspected 😢
Dr Peatfield Appointment 
