Tom, I've spent a while thinking about how to reply to this without severly pissing you off. On balance I doubt it possible but there is another side to the arguement so I'll try and put it without incurring the wrath of you and your many supporters. Most jobs are impacted by sickness and therefore need a policy to manage it. Ambulance staff do indeed all deal with sick people all the time, at any one period in time approximately 10% of staff will have triggered the 3 periods rule, 20% will not have had any sickness in the past 12 months and only 1-2% trigger the formal criteria. Clearly the work you do can cause sicknes however a clear majority of people doing the same job as you are not affected to the same degree hence other factors are at play here as well. Maybe you are more vulnerable to sickness or maybe just unlucky. If it is the latter then you should be reassured by the fact that going on the figures quoted above you stand a pretty good chance of reverting to a normal attendance pattern. The former may well be dealt with at your OHD appointment. You didn't mention a rep being present at your meeting, I would heavily recomend that you don't attend such a meeting in future without one, the policy is actually more reasonable that you may think and a rep would be well placed to highlight factors that support you. Sorry that you have found yourself in this difficult position and I wish you good health for the coming 12 months.