It is almost certain that the member of staff is entitled to see the
letter, either under the Data Protection Act or under the Access to
Medical Reports Act 1988, or both. (The AMRA provides a right of
access by individual to medical reports for employment or insurance
purposes by a health professional who has at any time provided
medical advice or treatment to the individual.)
The only circumstances in which one or other right of access would
not apply would be where (a) the record was _not_ held in automated
form or as part of a relevant filing system _and_ (b) the doctor who
wrote the letter had never _on any occasion_ provided medical
treatment or advice to the individual. If the doctor had ever, even
on an unrelated previous occasion, offered advice, or as much as an
aspirin, the letter relating to this incident would fall under the
AMRA and would be accessible to the individual even if it was
otherwise non-automated and not part of a relevant filing system.
Maurice Frankel
Campaign for Freedom of Information
At 4:01 pm +0000 13/12/01, Michael Marshall wrote:
>A member of staff has been referred to the company occ health Doctor who
>has dictated a letter in the data subjects presence as to his condition.
>The doctor states in the letter that the subject is fully aware of its
>contents. The letter now remains in the subjects HR file. The subject wants
>a copy, the doctor says he doesn't want the letter released but not for any
>medical reason. Who has juristriction here, is it access to medical records
>or DPA?. The subject has sent in an SAR, do we release the letter or not
>bearing in mind the doctor admits no harm will come to the data subject as
>he is already aware of the content of the letter. Is there a
>confidentiality issue here ? any ideas please ....
>
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