A Gatineau family physician says federal workers are clogging the health care system in search of medical notes so they can continue working from home. Dr. Karine Lemyre says every time the federal public service updates its return to office policy, a wave of federal workers fills her schedule seeking medical exemptions. In July, the federal government required all workers to be in office at least four days per week. Since then, Lemyre says she has at least 10 appointments every week of public servants seeking medical exemptions. “The reason that I see the most is they come here and they say they have anxiety. So, the thing is, I tell them there’s a difference between anxiety and a real trouble with anxiety,” Lemyre told CTV News Ottawa. “I try to see, is it medically justified to do this? I would say probably at least 90 percent of the time - maybe it’s more like 99 percent - it’s not a medical cause that’s behind it. So, I say no.” Lemyre says the people she sees coming in looking for a doctor’s note are between 30 and 50 years old. “They have kids, they have a really busy life, and to save one hour in traffic makes a big difference in their life,” Lemyre said. “Most of the time, it’s not anxiety. It’s because it’s more stressful to take your car to go to work and the stress of the traffic.” Amid a doctor shortage and an overwhelmed health care system, Lemyre says the time it takes to write or deny a medical exemption request is taking time away from patients in need. “I don’t think I should work more to help this situation between managers and employees at the government, especially in Gatineau, where there is a lack of doctors,” she said. “This person coming to see me is contributing to this.” Lemyre says when she denies the patient’s request, often the patient will admit to seeking out another physician to fulfill the note. “Some doctors will sign it, because sometimes it’s easier than to fight with the person in front of them. So, that’s also a problem.” She says this is an issue the public service should be handling with a designated health care professional. “The government should probably hire a nurse or a doctor, but a nurse could do the job. You call a nurse and you say, ‘Look, I think I’m sick, I cannot go four days a week, I need a medical note.’ And they would then administer the questionnaire.” More workers seeking exemptions, union says The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) confirms more of its members are seeking exemptions. “We have definitely seen an uptick in duty to accommodate requests. Whether it’s based on the RTO mandate, I don’t know,” said PIPSC president Sean O’Reilly. “But to have that additional stress of everything that’s been going on with the (job) cuts, with RTO, has not been helpful to their well-being,” he adds. The union says regardless of the exemption requests, the return to office mandate needs to be re-evaluated. “Right now, I have members sitting on Teams meetings all day, sitting in an office downtown. That’s a waste of taxpayer dollars and is not a productive way for a public servant to spend their time.”
