Feeling rough and dreading the call to your GP surgery at 8 am?
Thousands of workers across the UK now skip the queue entirely and get a sick note online, often within minutes. Hola Health is one of the services making that happen, and the process is far simpler than most people expect.
Here’s how it works, what counts as a valid sick note in 2026, and what to look out for before you book.
What a Sick Note Is and Why the Rules Changed
A sick note, officially called a Fit Note (or Statement of Fitness for Work), is the document your employer needs when you’ve been off sick for more than seven calendar days. For the first seven days, you can self-certify using an SC2 form, no doctor required.
The Department for Work and Pensions updated the rules a few years back so that nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists can issue Fit Notes too, not just GPs.
Demand for NHS appointments hasn’t eased, so private online providers have grown to fill the gap for people who need a quick, documented sign-off without taking half a day off work to get it.
When You Need One
If you’ve been unwell for a stretch of working days, your employer is within their rights to ask for proof. Most do. The note doesn’t have to come from your registered GP. It needs to come from a qualified clinician, be signed (digital signatures are accepted), and state the dates you’re unable to work.
Some employers also require notes for shorter absences if their internal policy requires them, particularly in regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and hospitality. Worth checking your work policies before assuming the seven-day rule applies to your situation.
How to Get a Sick Note Online with Hola Health
The appeal of an online service is obvious when you’re running a temperature and sitting in a waiting room feels like the worst thing in the world. Hola Health runs the whole thing remotely, and the steps look like this:
Step 1: Book a Consultation
Head to the Hola Health website and select a Fit Note consultation. Choose the consult type and get on a call within the next few minutes, depending on availability. There’s no need to register with a new GP or transfer records. The booking takes a couple of minutes.
Step 2: Fill in Your Symptoms
Before the consultation, you’ll be asked to describe what’s going on. The clinician reads it before the call, so the consultation stays focused on assessment rather than admin. Be honest and specific. Vague answers get vague follow-up questions.
Step 3: Speak to a Clinician
The consultation happens by video. A qualified GMC-registered doctor will go through your symptoms, ask questions about your work and what you can or can’t manage, and decide whether a Fit Note is appropriate. The whole conversation usually takes between ten and fifteen minutes.
Step 4: Receive Your Sick Note
If the clinician agrees a note is warranted, it’s issued digitally and sent to your email within minutes of approval. You can forward it straight to your employer or HR team. The note carries the same weight as one issued by your registered NHS GP.
Getting a Sick Note for Work Online
For employers, a digitally issued Fit Note is treated exactly the same as a paper one. The GMC registration of the clinician, the date, and the signed statement are what matter legally, not the format or whether it came from an NHS practice.
That said, a small minority of HR departments are still catching up with how telehealth works. If you’re unsure, a quick message to HR before booking saves any back-and-forth later. Most won’t bat an eyelid.
The Royal College of GPs has been clear that remote consultations are a legitimate way to assess and certify illness, and the practice has been mainstream since the pandemic accelerated everything.
One practical tip: keep a copy of the email confirmation and the note itself. Employers occasionally lose track of paperwork, and having your own record means you’re never the one chasing it.
Same-Day Sick Note: How Quickly Can You Get One?
Speed is usually the whole point. Hola Health offers same-day on-demand consults within minutes, and in many cases, the entire process from booking to receiving the note takes a few minutes. That’s the gap that NHS surgeries can’t fill at the moment, with the average wait for a GP appointment running at around two weeks in some parts of the country.
Same-day doesn’t mean instant, though. The clinician still needs to properly assess you. If your symptoms suggest something more serious, they’ll refer you on rather than sign you off. A good telehealth provider always puts your health first. The clinician’s name and registration number appear on every note they issue, so professional accountability is identical to that in any other consultation.
For employees working in retail, hospitality, or shift-based roles, the same-day turnaround can mean the difference between losing a day’s pay over admin and having things sorted before lunch. For office workers, it removes the strange limbo of feeling too unwell to work but well enough to feel guilty about it.
What the Service Costs
Hola Health charges a flat fee per consultation, and you’re paying for the clinician’s time rather than the document itself. Prices are listed transparently on the booking page, and there are no hidden costs for the Fit Note if one is issued.
If the clinician decides a note isn’t appropriate, you’ve still had a proper medical consultation, which has its own value.
A Sensible Word of Caution
Online services work best for clear-cut situations: a bout of flu, a back injury that needs rest, post-surgical recovery, or a mental health flare-up that an experienced clinician can assess remotely. Complex or undiagnosed conditions still benefit from an in-person appointment with someone who knows your history. Telehealth complements traditional care; it doesn’t replace it.
For the everyday reality of needing a note while feeling too unwell to leave the house, services like Hola Health have made the process genuinely simple. Book, consult, receive.
Need a fit note? Get in touch today. With Hola Health, the day you need to take off is the day you get to rest.