Medical records - anyone clued up about an access breach?

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

Is there anyone around MSE that is clued up with regards to release of medical data without consent to an employer? It isn't a public interest/harm of patient situation, basically a screw up by a secretary.

Thanx

A

What is your question??

You need to give more details to get the advice you need.

Did you make the mistake or was it your records which were disclosed
Had the patient not given consent, or had they ticked the box saying I want to see the report first and wasn't given the chance to do so
What was the nature of the info disclosed
Why did the employer request the info

There may be a valid complaint to ICO here though not if for example the employer was querying the contents of a fit note and the doctor was confirming the patient had altered it! If it was you who made the error, then the employment consequences may depend on the circumstances.

You had another thread some time ago about your MIL unlawfully accessing your husband's medical records didn't you? As a consequence of that saga are you not already quite well versed in what is and isn't allowed and who you can complain to?

Does consultant agree the info contained in the report was inaccurate? Or is this something which is or could be the subject of interpretation. E.g. (And just an example) the report says the patient is an alcoholic and the patient agrees they do drink alcohol but doesn't agree this is to excess or are addicted?

I think this is complicated by the fact that the patient did give consent albeit he wanted to see the report first. So it's not as clear cut as the consultant writing to the employer with no signed consent at all from the patient. You could take it to ICO but they may not take it particularly seriously particularly as no harm resulted to the patient. Possibly there are internal NHS complaints procedures you can use but as I said you are probably already familiar with these due to your previous experiences.

Edited to say: the rules are here (https://www.bma.org.uk/-/media/files/pdfs/practical%20advice%20at%20work/ethics/accesstomedicalreportsjune2009.pdf). Consultant may have been entitled to send the report if the patient didn't object within 21 days of a draft being sent, or if anything in the report might have been harmful to the physical or mental health of the patient, or if it included info about a third party. There is no right on patients part to have info corrected as such but he can ask for the doctor to put a note in the report to say that something is disputed. Patient can't ask for relevant info to be omitted from the report.

Personally I'd be concentrating on getting the inaccuracies corrected and on ongoing medical care.

How is an access breach then ? If it contains incorrect info, surely the patient can explain this ?

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Yes, something has gone awry. I think you can only learn by the mistake - FIRST you ask to see your records, THEN (when you have established that all is correct) you give permission to the employer to see them.

According to this page

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2313.aspx?CategoryID=68

on the NHS website, the doctor must offer to send the report to the patient first and must not send it to the employer if the patient refuses after having sight of the report. If the information on the linked page is correct, then it appears the consultant has lied to the patient in saying the patient had no right to see it, when in fact legislation guarantees the patient not only had the right to see it but the right to forbid it being sent.

There's also this page with guidance for employers which says much the same thing:

http://support.fitforwork.org/app/answers/detail/a_id/806/~/access-to-medical-reports-act-1988--employer-guide

and the text of the legislation itself, which concurs with the two pages linked above, can be found online (search for Medical reports act 1988), which is human readable and not impenetrable legalese.