You could always dust down your old A&E nurses uniform Tom ? As you know nurses are undisputed jedhi masters of the "sickie" yet nothing much ever gets done about it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jun/26/nhs.politics I suspect some (nursing) managers probably fear a counter claim for harrassment and bullying if too many questions are asked - although we have introduced a back to work interview which usually consist of a few token questions along the lines of 'viral illness, was it ? bad back ?? that'll do nicely - have a good shift my disease prone friend'. Now, I'm not the sort to play devils advocate here but given the insignificant amount of (your) sick leave, and the profile you command in the blogsphere, could "they" be out to .......well, I'm sure you get my point ?