Employment and medical records

wizzards

During approx the past two years I have become ill while at work to the extent that 6 months ago approx the employer referred me to an occupational Health provider 3 times. On the 3rd referral the Private Occupational Health provider produced a report recommending actions based on no medical evidence. This included mental health and psychological assessments, homeworking and exercise.

Shortly after this I was diagnosed with a Pituitary Adenoma after referral to the GP which is a swelling of the Pituitary gland under the brain which I have had over many years putting pressure recently on my brain. This has now been diagnosed and treated and progress is good. From my first visit to A & E in London where the GP seems to have ignored any followup to my GP referring me for an MRI scan has taken 2 years. I have taken my GP to the Advocacy service but so far the GP says bar a few minor issues there is nothing wrong with their services.

During my referral to my Employers private health provider I was asked to sign forms allowing access to my GP's medical records and also to send reports to my employer. When I was asked to sign the first form allowing access to my GP records page 2 explaining my rights was missing and is not included in the copy that the GP received or given to me at time of signing. When I asked for a copy of what I signed and page 2 the doctor became evasive and gave me only a blank copy and not the one I signed. Subsequently I have obtained a copy of the original from my GP.

The form sent to my GP is only partially completed and the preference to receive or not receive reports sent to my employer is unchosen and page 2 is missing which contains details of my rights. The address of my company employing me is missing. The practice name only is included and not the actual name of my GP. My name and name and address are correct as well as the address of the GP practice however.

Although I signed the forms. The form indicating my choices to see the report before sending to my employer was altered after I signed it without my knowledge as I mistakenly ticked all boxes.
On the form to send reports to my employer it appears the choices have been amended after I signed it as all 3 boxes were mistakenly ticked.

I made an initial inquiry to my unions legal service if I have any recourse but other than to ask the service to amend any faulty records they didn't seem to think I had a legal redress regarding unauthorised access.

Both for the access issue and the unfounded mistaken diagnosis I am wondering if I can seek redress. Also the report from this health service has untrue non medical statements such as cleanliness is not my priority and my hobbies are share trading which is irrelevant and not true. Also suggested is that I wasn't falling asleep during the day which is the exact opposite of what was said. I took a relative with me who can attest to all these errors.

jonnygee2

Maybe you could start again and say;

- What the form you originally signed said.

- What you thought you had given permission for

- Where your GP sent your medical records

- Why you think the form was altered, how it was altered, and whether you have any evidence of this

- Who you want redress from - your employer or your GP?

Right now your post is a bit confusing and contradicts itself a few times. It is therefore hard to give the best advice.

TELLIT01

Sorry but the OP is virtually impossible to understand. What did ticking the 3 boxes allow by way of passing information to the new employer? Did ticking all 3 create a situation where one tick contradicted another?
Medical notes are 'owned' by the practice, not by an individual GP so not having a named GP on the form is of no importance.

wizzards

FORM 1 for the GP.

The original form said as follows

This consent form is given in respect of an application for a report from your own GP and / or Specialist. Please complete and return this form to xxxx Ltd

Employee Details -- I completed this part --
Home address -- I completed this part --
Company Name -- I completed this part --
Job Title -- Left Blank --
Name of contact at company -- Left Blank --
Company address -- Left Blank --
Home tel -- Left Blank --
Work tel -- Left Blank --
Mobile Tel -- Left Blank --

Name of GP -- I completed this correctly --
Address of GP -- I completed this correctly --
and if appropriate
Name of Specialist -- Left Blank --
Phone No -- Left Blank --
Address of specialist -- Left Blank --

I understand my rights under the Access to Medical Report Act 1988, and have read the Explanatory Notes on the rights of Individual on the following page. Please read the following statements and then sign to signify your agreement.

1. I consent to xxxx Management Ltd obtaining a medical report from my GP and / or Specialist
2. I give my consent to xxxx Management Ltd to use the report from my GP/Specialist to prepare a summarised report containing relevant clinical information which will be released, in strictest confidence, to designated officers within my company.
3. I give my consent for xxxx Management Ltd to:
(a) Hold and process medical information about me.
(b) Release any medical information about me to any doctor or nurse who is involved in my case
(c) Contact me to arrange appointments and manage my case.

4. I do not wish to see the report from my GP / Specialist before it is sent to xxxx Management.
Or
I do wish to see the report from my GP / Specialist before it is sent to xxxx Management.
(Please delete as appropriate)

Signed > I signed it > Date <I completed this >

In respect of section 4 I was not really aware that I had to select something.

At the time I had an unknown tumour pressing on my brain so I was not in a very good state. On asking to have a copy of the form the doctor refused. When I asked about page 2 he became flustered. He then said he had an appointment and just left me in the reception. This was witnessed by my mother.

Subsequently I have got a copy of page 2 and this actually explains my rights under the Medical Reports act 1988.

I obtained a copy of the original form that was sent to my GP and page 2 is also missing. I have written to my GP pointing this out and await a response.

You may ask why I am pursuing this item. The reason is that this private companies report caused my employer to think I had mental health issues. It has been difficult to recover from this.
Also the private health companies recommendations such as exercise could have been detrimental to my health had I attempted to follow them.

Given that I have signed the form does this mean I have no redress regarding there access to my data. I have complained to my employer and there response is we had no issues before and thats it so far. They claim they may discuss it with the service provider but have given no date or commitment yet.

__________________________________________________

FORM 2 for the CONSENT AND DECLARATION

XXX CONSENT AND DECLARATION

PLEASE READ AND SIGN THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION

To: xxxxx Management Limited

I declare that I have been counselled as to the purpose of this medical examination by the examining doctor.

1. I authorise the examining doctor on behalf of xxxx Management to release information to the clinical staff of xxxx Management Ltd.

2. I authorise for a summarised report containing relevant clinical information to be released in strictest confidence, to designated officers within my organisation who are responsible for my case.

3. I authorise xxx Management Ltd to release medical information from this assessment and / or other medical specialists regarding the outcome of my case if necessary.

4. I authorise xxx Management Ltd to maintain and process my medical records in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

5. You are welcome to view our report to your organisation at anytime. Please tick your preferred choice and, if necessary, print your email address below:

a) I do not wish to have a copy of the management report provided to me.

b) I wish to have a copy of the management report provided to me by secure File transfer 2 working days before it is sent to my employer. My email address is below.

c) I wish to have a copy sent to me by secure file transfer at the same time as my employer. My email address is below.

I selected all the items above but they ammended it to option c without my knowledge post signing

Email address - Print block capitals

xxx@yyyy.zzz

If you do not indicate a preference you will be sent a copy of the management report at the same time as your employer.

Your Signature : < I completed this >
Your Name : < I completed this >
Date : < I completed this >
Employer : < I completed this but mispelt the employer name>



The problem is due to my mental state and tiredness I was not in a fit state at all to understand what was being asked for me to authorise on these forms. Given that I signed both forms at some point I am wondering if have I any legal recourse. I have complained to my employer but as yet other than say never had any issue before I got no response.
This is a private health contractor.

The initial diagnosis after 2 visits to this company health provider was nothing found. The 3rd health Doctor just seems to have made a big report recommending actions such as exercise, homeworking and other physical and mental assessments. Given no diagnosis from my GP the recommendations are based on no factual medical evidence. At the time to follow these recommendations would have caused more harm than good.

theoretica

It reads to me as though you are mixing two issues, better taken separately.


1) The occupational health provider made recommendations that would have been dangerous for you to follow.


2) You were asked to, and did, sign incomplete forms and now regret not having been able to ask for corrections to the report before it went to your employer.



For the first, I assume they are licensed medical practitioners, and as such they will have an official route for complaints. However, major diagnosis and tests such as the MRI you mention are presumably beyond their scope, so the report could only have been based on symptoms, not on diagnosis.


For the form, what do you want to happen? You can't have your employer unsee the report, but can withdraw any future permission. It seems realistic to expect your employer to acknowledge your actual diagnosis and explicitly say they realise the report was written without this crucial information.

wizzards

1) Yes you are correct the occupational provider made recommendations which in hindsight could have caused even my death at very worst case.

2) I did sign the forms one of which had a page missing and the other of which was altered without my knowledge or permission as I had ticked all option boxes by mistake.

In terms of redress I intend to get copies of all documents by exercising my GPDR rights. I intend to request that the last report to be deleted completely as it appears to be a complete work of fiction probably to justify the consultants fee.

Unfortunately my employer insists I attend again a review with yet another health consultant as a precursor to returning fulltime to work. However HR has indicated they are happy to accept the letter I have from my consultant. Hence my plan is to take a copy with me at this next health review and hopefully that should be the end of the discussion. Each time I have taken someone with me so there has been a witness although a relative my mother also a health care professional to these actions.

My employers attitude is that no one has complained before so they intend other than to raise at there review to do nothing about it. However I am aware in talking to other employees I am not the first person who has had issues. I can go to our union rep I suppose for advice.

wizzards

One thing I wonder is if I have any legal recourse regarding the handling of my data by this private health firm or is the fact that I signed the form even though in one case the second page is missing and parts of it are incomplete it constitutes my consent regardless. Even when filling in my firms name I appear to have misspelled it as I was not in a good state at the time. One of the forms is clearly altered in a different pen regarding my choice to receive the data i.e a copy of the report from this firm before it was sent to my employer. This change was done without my knowledge or consent. I am taking these issues with my employer in the first instance. In a way its my word against this firms but my relative was witness to what happened at this health practitioners surgery. They rent rooms by the hour in my own Doctors practice.

FBaby

From what you've written above, it would appear that if you don't see t a preference, option c becomes the default. As you ticked all, you didn't make a selection and therefore the statement below that you'd be sent the report at the same time than your employer kicks in which is indeed same as if you'd ticked option c.

I don't see what your gp practice did wrong.

wizzards

Yes I can see in the case of the GP they acted in good faith even though the form is missing half of the details it had my signature at the bottom. Page 2 of the form which explains the medical records act 1988 which I am supposed to have read and understood is nowhere to be seen and wasn't given to me. Obviously the GP can't be responsible for that.

But do I have any possibility to pursue in anyway this private health company. Currently I have revoked all their rights to my medical records and issued a GPDR request to this company to obtain all information they keep. I believe I already have copies of most of it. What concerns me most is that they have made medical reports that imply I have mental or psychological issues as well as physical disabilities which have no medical evidence to back them up. My request will be to have these reports deleted in light of the report from my consultant which I have given them already which clearly states my condition and treatment. I do not intend to give this private health management company any general access to any more of my medical records. If they have specific questions they can request on a per question basis and I will view any correspondance. I know my employer may not like this but given events how can I possibly trust such an outfit. I need to keep my employer onside but also protect my privacy and the correctness of any medical records. The initial faulty reports seen by my boss and other HR persons was extremely damaging to my 28 year excellent reputation in my company.

TBagpuss

Did the Practice provide you with the form? I thought they were usually provided by the employer in which case surely any issue about it being incomplete would be made to them.

In either case, however, Iit sounds as though the issue is that you didn't (due to your illness) fully understand of complete the form at the time, rather than the doctor having done anything wrong.

What, specifically, do you want them to do?

If you are making any kind of complaint it is generally sensible to state what you want the outcome to be - e.g. an apology, that they review their procedures to make sure that documents are checked more carefully, or something else?

TBagpuss

PS - I don't think they will delete records - they may not be correct in light of your actual diagnosis but that doesn't mean that they were not an accurate record of the doctor's assessment at the time.

It may be that a letter from your consultant or GP clarifying the actual diagnosis and perhaps setting out some of the effects that this would have had on your presentation is all that is needed. r