Posted By seanc
In college on Friday our tutor informed us that the G.M.C had produced new guidance which came in to effect on the 12th October.
the section on disclosing information with consent now gives more rights to our workforce, previously occupational reports were sent to our management team and the staff member was told of the outcome of the report via their manager, my understanding of the new guidance is that the report should be sent to the staff member first for their agreement of the contents before the management team see it.
Any comments on how you read it would be grateful.

Sean

Posted By seanc
thanks, do you mean the report that is sent to the occupational health doctor? i am aware that the staff member can see that, the report i refer too is the one sent from the doctor to the employer, which is then shown to the staff member.
it is new guidance and it came into effect last week on the 12th, my understanding of the guidance is that the staff member will now get the report first, and confirm then that the employer can see it once they are happy with disclosure.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Sean

Posted By steve e ashton
Sean:

Are you based in UK or Ireland? If you can find any references for the GMC changed advice - I for one would be interested to see what they're saying. I hadn't heard of any tightening of the patient confidentiality rules, so either I've missed it or maybe its ROI rather than a UK change?

If UK - then you need to be aware the Access to Medical Reports Act only applies where a medical report is prepared by a medical practitioner who is or has been responsible for the clinical care of an individual.

Most Occ Health providers do not provide clinical care - so the Act does not apply to their reports. So (most) Occ Health reports can be provided lawfully to the employer (client) without reference to the employee. It would depend on how contracts of employment have been written and how the contract with the OHS has been specified.

If you're asking about GP reports (or clinical specialist reports) then AMRA covers them (in the UK) and there's a right for individuals to see/amend reports before they are sent to the employer. I don't see how the GMC could overrule or change the law?

As I noted, I would be interested in any references you may find...

Steve

Posted By steve e ashton
Sean:

I think the distinction comes when deciding whether or not the employee is a 'patient'. If the medical practitioner is providing clinical care then the subject is a patient - so the duty of confidentiality (and the new GMC guidance - thanks for prompting me to look it up...) applies.

(It is my understanding that...) If a medical practitioner examines someone purely for the purposes of emnployment or insurance (or whatever) then that someone is not being given clinical care, is therefore not a patient and -in any case - is deemed to have given consent to release of a (relevant) medical report by accepting the contract of employment (insurance) and presenting for the examination.

Having looked at the new guidance I don't think there's anything new in there that will affect the way medical reports are requested from GPs / specialists and how they are handled by the medic or emplyers. Changes are aimed more at clarifying how / whether / when GPs can or should tell the police about treatments given to victims of knife and gun crime (and illegal drug use?)

Sorry for banging on about the OH/GP distinction. It's been a bee in my bonnet for a number of years - and is one that many OH providers themselves seem not to appreciate.

Steve