If you explain to your doctor he/she can provide you with either a duplicate sicknote or a form called a med 10 which you can give to your employer.

I had to get duplicate sicknotes and one of the med 10 forms for my mortgage insurance etc. Phone and askl to speak to your doc, and anythinng original you do post post recorded delivery

Thankyou I will do that. I had never heard of a med10

Ok, lets go through bit by bit :
Don`t tell her the doc has said it will be long term, there is no guarantee of that either way as far as she is concerned. If she is`nt liable to pay sick pay the government are, you have been paying national insurance for years, you are entitled.
You may also be entitled to a tax refund so get on to them just in case.
You may also be entitled to income support to top up sick pay and most if not all your council tax and rent should be claimable as well for the duration.

So stop panicking, [ I know its hard, believe me ], and if you feel overwhelmed by it all, CAB will go through it all with you and will help with form filling, [ go to the one at Greenstead in the little shopping square, opposite the chippy, not the one in town ], plus the doc will fill in anything needed from him for you to get benefits sorted.

It can take time to get things moving so ask at CAB about an emergency payment as you have a dependant to look after as well

Sorry I have just checked and the form you are looking for is a med 5 not a Med 10

I have a copy of mine in front of me, it is a pink form.

Hope this helps

My employer has just rung me and she was actually quite sweet and agreed to terminate my employment with her on the grounds I could not complete my probationary period with her due to my back. She is going to put it in writing to me and post it, so I don't have to go and see her and I am officially unemployed and free from the stress of worrying I am upsetting an employer.
I feel so relieved, I can now relax and try to get myself sorted. She did add that if I ever wanted to go back there when I was well again she would be happy to have me. But there is definatly no chance that will happen.
So now resorting what i can claim.

Good news Bev, she's saved you a lot of bother, good luck with the claims.

Thats great news that she was so nice. Hope you get all the claims sorted soon