The Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 gives the employee the right
to see any medical report provided for employment or insurance
purposes by a doctor who has at any time been responsible for the
patient's care.
The patient's own doctor appears to have disclosed the report in
accordance with this Act's requirments.
Any information which her employer's occupational health organisation
has provided to the employer would be covered only if (a) the
information was recorded by or on behalf of a medical practitioner;
and (b) that practitioner had at any time been responsible for her
care., eg by offering medication or treatment, perhaps in an episode
of illness at work. Once any degree of medical care has been given
by such a doctor, any subsequent report for employment purposes is
covered by the 1988 Act.
If no such care has been given, the information will only become
accessible (as Chris Pounder has said) once the relevant DPA
provisions are in force, ie from October 2001, provided if it forms
part of a structured set of files.
Maurice Frankel
Campaign for Freedom of Information
At 10:45 am +0100 15/6/00, Edwina Withe wrote:
>Advice pls.
>
>An employee consults her doctor, and gets signed off work for several
>months. Subsequently, her doctor is asked to report on her fitness for
>work. The employee asks her Doctor for a copy of the report he is
>submitting to her employer's occupational health organisatoin. S/he gives
>her the requested info.
>
>On her return to work she asks personnel for a copy of the report that the
>Occupational Health organisation supplied to her employer and it is refused.
>She believes following a discussion with her manager about her working hours
>that there is an inconsistency in what her doctor said and what the
>occupational health organisation said about her.
>
>I dont believe the employer is correct to do this, unless they can prove
>that releasing this data will be detrimental to her health and could cause
>harm.
>
>Comments pls
>
>Edwina Withe
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