effective from the 12th of October the GMC have issued new guidelines concerning the confidentiaity of occupational health reports. the organisation i work for have not updated their guidance on this matter, and i am finding it difficult to get anybody to take this issue seriously. from 12-10-2009 any occupational doctor must ask the patient whether they are happy sending the report straight to the employer, or do they want to see a copy of the report, and have a chance to delete any information they feel is not relevant to their referral. Has anybody else heard any news on this subject, and if so have their employers and occupational health providers updated their guidance on occupational health reports?

Jay, You are a superstar, many thanks for your help. Sean

Hi, Sean/Jay When I first started with my orginisation i recommended they get new employees to complete a Occupationall health Questionairre to ensure they have no health problems. Also there were questions regarding work at height, heart problems, back problems, medication recent operations etc, etc. Could you or any one confirm if this type of questionnairre is require to be completed by law or is it just good practice. Are they to prevent the orginisation from bring sued if something was to happen to the operative. Any responce would be helpfull JMC

Our occupational doctor told me the same a couple of weeks ago. He is also issuign a form to employees requesting if they want to see their reports or if they are happy for the precis to be sent straight to HR for action. He told us that the GMC did not in any way canvas their members and that it is a universally unpopular decision. Equally the amount of time it will take for reprots to get to HR and safety will increase dramatically which will have an impact on employers doing anything to assist the employee - I wonder how the HSE will see this........ Finally he syas it is important that OH doctors make it clear that they will not be changing their diagnosis when they do show employees their reports- it is only if they have the material facts in their report wrong. Now this really is red tape gone mad and I can see the claims rolling in when we have not acted swiftly enough and Mrs Miggins (!!) who has been arguing the toss with the works doctor for months on end as he will not dianose her with what she wants it to be and then accuses us of not improving her work station and her RSI - sorry WRULD has got worse. Go on - just make our job that little bit harder and more confrontational - JOY!!!!

Sean, The typical pre-employment medical questionnaire is not an explicit legal requirement, although it may serve as a first screen for health surveillance that is required by various health and safety regulations. The purpose of a pre-employment medical questionnaire is to establish a baseline and deal with any issues prior to commencing employment. Due to the Disability Discrimination legislation, one cannot discriminate One needs to recognise Disability Discrimination legislation, specifically the Code of Practice on Employment and Occupation. However, courts have made it clear that Health and Safety legislation takes precedence over the protection by Disability discrimination legislation, provided the employer has made/considered all reasonable adjustments In our case, we do not even see the filled questionnaire as it contains medical information. The prospective employee sends it directly to our occupational health service provider who assesses the questionnaire and then advises us either that the candidate has no health issues , or if there are concerns, there is an actual medical (with consent!)and the occupational health physician advises on fitness for work--but bear in mid that it is ultimately the employer that takes the decision. Yes, the information could serve as a means of ascertaining the baseline health of an employee, so that false claims could be contested and the information provided used.

Thanks again Jay.