Medical reports

Q: One of my members was off sick for six weeks and her employer wrote to her GP without telling the member, asking for a medical report. The GP wrote a report, again without telling the member. The first time she knew about it was when the report was shown to her by the employer. Is this allowed?

A: Under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, an employer must not apply to a worker’s GP for a report without first notifying the worker of her/his rights and getting her/his written consent.

Most employers use a standard form for this. Worker must be told they are entitled to see the report before it is sent to the employer, if they so wish, and to make amendments with the GP’s agreement. The GP should not write a report without the worker’s consent.

A good relationship with a GP is important, but she should make it very clear this should not happen again.