mgmt: Bill
1. Bill has not worked for 2 years. He was replacing an electrical motor on a factory machine when he felt pain in his lower back and collapsed to the floor.
2. A first aider helped keep him still until an ambulance arrived – no mistakes were made by the 1st aider.
3. When he arrived at the hospital, he was treated with pain killers and a muscle relaxant and was kept overnight for observation.
4. He was released to his personal physician the next day who told him he had severely strained his lower back and that he would continue on pain killers and muscle relaxants as needed. His physician gave him 3 weeks off of work.
5. At the end of 3 weeks, Bill was still in pain, and his physician told him to stay home another 3 weeks.
6. After 6 weeks away from work, he still hurt, and his physician sent him for a CT scan, which took 3 months to schedule.
7. During this time, his employer made no contact with Bill and only received basic medical notes (i.e. Bill is still injured, and requires an additional 3 months of medical leave, signed by the PHYSICIAN).
8. The CT scan showed a very slight back disc herniation and the physician recommended the same medicine and 6 more weeks away from work.
1. Bill has now been away for 1 year! He gets bored, so tries to become more active doing chores around the house to help out his wife and kids.
2. One day, he lifted some laundry and he had another severe pain in his lower back. He collapsed to the floor and his eldest son called 999. When the ambulance arrived, they immediately took him to the hospital.
3. He could not stand straight for 2 days.
4. He was scheduled for an MRI scan in the hospital – 8 more months away. His physician continued his medications and gave him another medical note for 6 months' absence from work.
5.6 months later, the MRI showed that he needed surgery as his condition got worse.
6. His recovery from surgery was bad – some immediate pain relief in his back BUT he had some scar tissue that formed and caused numbness in his legs which meant he couldn't climb stairs.
7. Bill's physician told him he needed another surgery. 8 weeks later, Bill had a 2nd surgery.
8. While this 2nd surgery went well, he had to go to physiotherapy for 5 months – more time away from work.
9. At the end of this, his insurance company has decided that he is well enough to return to work.
BUT, the employer isn't sure what to do? Bill has now been away for almost 2 years. His job has been replaced by another worker
Discussion
What is going on here?
Role of:
•Physician
•Bill?
•Manager
•Co-Workers
•HR
OK – now what?
Mistakes.
How would you have dealt with this?