Employers criticise doctors’ handwriting

Press, 26 October 1982, Page 6

Employers criticise doctors’ handwriting

PA Wellington The legibility of doctors' handwriting has come under fire from employers. As a result, doctors have been told by the New Zealand Medical Association that employers must be able to read the handwriting on medical certificates issued. Besides making the certificates legible, doctors have been told to make sure to examine the sick worker before writing the certificate.

These are among a list of suggestions that the association will send out to doctors. “The certificate should be legible,” said a New Zealand Medical Association spokesman. . “It must have the name of the patient on it, dated, and should also state clearly that the.patient has been sick, and that he should be allowed off work from date x to date y,” she said; , “The doctor should have examined'the patient before issuing a medical certificate.

“If the doctor feels that this person should do light work — say the person had a back problem — the doctor should state the fact. “The doctor should tell the employer that the person has got some disability,” she said. ' “The doctor, however, is not obliged to put on the medical certificate what exactly is wrong with the • patient. “The doctor’s responsibility is to the patient, not to the employer,’’she said.