GPs refuse to give exam 'sickies'

The BMA does not want to support an "excuses culture"

Doctors are refusing to write sick notes for pupils who miss their exams this summer.

The advice to GPs in Devon was made because too many students were not genuinely unwell and "trying it on".

The British Medical Association said it did not want to support the country's "excuses culture".

Exam boards say that unless a school can be certain a student was genuinely unwell pupils missing exams through illness need a doctor's note as proof.

Little Willy may have some diarrhoea but how do I know? Dr Peter Holden

The BMA's Dr Peter Holden said: "Schools send parents along saying 'Little Willy was ill, can you issue a certificate?' It is rarely on the day.

"Little Willy may have some diarrhoea but how do I know?

"People try it on. For every 10 little Willies that I have in wanting certificates, that's 10 people I can't see who are really sick."

Dr Holden said there was no contractual obligation on doctors to write exam sick notes.

The Times Educational Supplement reported that staff at Tamarside Community College in Plymouth, Devon, complained after doctors refused to write the notes.

The Devon local medical committee advised doctors to "stick to your guns" and said the notes were not a GP responsibility.

The college's head teacher Keith Balance described the guidance as "an absolute disgrace".

He said: "The whole thing stinks."