Ten thousand employees with disease letter put back to work: experts argue for completely different approach

In January 2024, Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) already took measures to dike the growing group of long -term sick people. For example, in the first year, every employee must go to another doctor three times, a so -called advisory doctor of the health insurance fund.

Tens of thousands of people are told every year that their sickness letter is declared void and that they have to get back to work, writes Time. The federal government therefore wants to gain more insight into prescribing behavior and be able to punish that. Doctors can freely determine and extend the duration of disability if they find it necessary. But experts argue just for a completely different approach to disability.

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Completely different approach

Lode Godderis, professor of occupational medicine at KU Leuven, judges that general practitioners no longer have to play the leading role in long -term disability. « Such decisions must be made by specialists, » he says in Time. “Isn't a doctor not prescribing heavy antibiotics for a year? This is no different with the long -term sick. Giving a letter of illness for a year is also heavy antibiotics.  » Godderis also emphasizes that most people on sickness benefit are not profiteers. “That some have been using it for years is more a system error than an individual error. People are not entitled to sitting at home, but to recovery and healing. « 

GP dome Domus Medica agrees with Godderis. « While the government threatens to impose sanctions on general practitioners, it would better reform the system with the doctors' organizations, » says chairman Jeroen van den Brandt Time. « The estimate of incapacity for work in certain problems, such as burnout, is difficult for a general practitioner because he does not know the work situation. »