Dear Lynda
What an awful predicament! It is a lesson for all of us. I will certainly
review our medical records policy and ensure that we have included a
section on what to do if the Occupational Health Nursing Adviser leaves.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Regards,
Clare
"Hawkes, Lynda" wrote:
>
> I would appreciate comments/advice on the following scenario please:
>
> I work for an OH Consultancy and I have been looking after an engineering
> company which has just gone into receivership. I went in to collect
> personal possessions and the medical records and was told by the Health &
> Safety Manager that he had removed the medical records from my locked filing
> cabinet and had put them in his office. He insisted that they were his
> property and I had no right to them. He had secretly held a key to the
> cabinet for the last 2 years.
> I spoke to the receivers who are not happy to give me the records until they
> have spoken to their legal department but, thankfully after much insistence
> on my part, the records have been moved from the Health & Safety office into
> the area controlled by the receivers. I do suspect, however, that the H&S
> Manager has access to ALL areas of the site and could still access the
> records if he wished. He is also the Premises Manager by the way.
> My Manager, who has been brilliant, has informed the HSE and I have spoken
> to the legal bods at IOSH (the RCN and NMC were not helpful - the NMC merely
> told me to contact RCN). My Manager is hoping to speak to Carol Bannister
> today as she has been out of the office at the beginning of the week.
> Needless to say, this has caused me much concern, having spent the last 2
> years assuring the employees that their records are confidential. Even if,
> as thought by IOSH legal bods, I will not be held responsible because the
> records were in fact stolen, I still feel that I have let those employees
> down.
>
> Has anyone out there dealt with receivership cases etc and does anyone have
> any advice or ideas??
>
> Lynda Hawkes
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C.Sims [log in to unmask]
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