When you fall ill, two of the most important matters that you as an associate dentist face is to know about your sick pay entitlement and your locum cover responsibilities. Familiarising yourself with your practice's sickness absence policy and understanding what you need to do and when will help you to deal with these matters properly. It will also allow your practice owner to manage your sickness absence in a way which will minimise the impact on your patients' care and their business needs.
Your Associate Agreement should set out your sickness reporting procedure. You should follow this from the onset of your absence. If you are ill on your normal working day, this procedure will most often require you to telephone the practice manager or another designated person at the practice as soon as possible to notify them of your absence. You should tell them your reason for being absent and the expected duration of your illness (if you know it). Your practice will then be able to act promptly to cancel patient appointments, re-book patients for your expected return date or to organise locum cover if necessary.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
