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Who can complete a medical certificate?

In most cases a medical certificate can only be completed by a registered medical practitioner.  You must be registered to practice in New Zealand and have a current Annual Practicing Certificate. Students, practitioners who are not registered and allied health practitioners cannot complete the certificate.

Dentists can complete the Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit medical certificate if the origin of the injury or disability is dental-related.

Midwives can complete the Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit medical certificate where the person's incapacity relates to pregnancy.

Availability of medical certificates

Medical certificates are available in a range of formats. Pads of medical certificates for Sickness Benefit and Invalid’s Benefit are available from Work and Income through:

• our health and disability co-ordinators
• our service centres
• calling us on 0800 559 009.
  

Electronic versions are also available for many practice management systems.

Completing medical certificates

When to complete

The certificate should be completed as soon as it becomes apparent that the person may be eligible for, or wishes to apply for financial assistance because of their health or disability related incapacity.

Your responsibility

Completing a medical certificate entails investigation and responsibility. The Work and Income medical certificate provides case managers with information to help them determine a person’s eligibility for a benefit.

The Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit medical certificate also assists them to determine whether the person could engage in planning towards work. As well as being used to verify the person’s condition and its impact on their ability to work or plan for work, the certificate will also be relied upon to estimate the time the person is likely to be incapacitated.

How to complete

Your attention is directed to the Medical Council of New Zealand’s statement on Medical Certification (September 2003). In particular, the medical certificate should:

• be written legibly, minimising the use of medical terms for easy comprehension
• disclose only information that is accurate and based upon clinical observation, with patient comment clearly distinguished from clinical observation
• clearly identify the examination date and the time period of treatment (if any).

Retrospective certificates should be clearly identified as such.

If you'd like help completing a medical certificate please refer to the guides below or contact your Health and Disability Co-ordinator.

Important information

Providing misleading or untrue information, either deliberately or negligently, is professionally unacceptable and may be referred to the appropriate agency.

A doctor’s obligations are to his or her patient, and to the law. Issues like the type of certificate completed, who initiates it, or who pays the doctor’s consultation must not influence the doctor’s assessment and findings.

You must discuss the certificate with the person, their guardian or representative and ensure they agree to the information being provided to Work and Income.

Work and Income recognises that there are circumstances where you may be asked to complete the medical certificate, but you may not be the best person to provide the information. This could be because the person is under the care of a specialist, has a complex condition or the outcome from treatment is unclear. It could also be that you are placed in a situation of conflict – either through duress or because of the person’s complex social, financial or environmental factors.

If you have any concerns

If you have any concerns about providing a diagnosis or an opinion about a person’s ability to work, you should signal on the medical certificate who you believe is the best person to provide the information. This can either be you or another practitioner who can provide a second opinion. If you signal that a second opinion should be obtained, this will generate a referral for the client to be assessed by a designated doctor.

If you would like to talk to Work and Income about any aspect of the person's diagnosis or ability to work, you can indicate this in the 'Comments' section of the Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit medical certificate by ticking the contact box. Alternatively, you can contact the regional health advisor, regional disability advisor or client's case manager directly.

You need to ensure that the certificate is

• completed in ink, or through the practice management system
• completed and signed by the registered health practitioner who is able to complete that certificate; and
• issued only once – where a certificate is lost, a duplicate certificate may be requested by a patient; however this duplicate certificate must be completed by the practitioner who completed the original certificate and be clearly marked as “duplicate”.

Unused medical certificates should be kept in a secure place to prevent misuse or fraud.

Provider payments

Information on the medical certificate is for the benefit of the client. This information is an independent verification of the client’s incapacity and its likely impact and duration.

It is the client’s responsibility to meet the costs of the consultation between the doctor and the patient. Information about charges should be clearly displayed or given to the patient prior to the consultation.

Work and Income only provides direct payments to medical practitioners where we engage the practitioner to provide a specific service or report.

For more information

If you need more information about completing any of the medical certificates, please contact your local health and disability co-ordinator.