Are EHS visits compulsary?

[blitz2000]

Hi!,
My girlfriend and I both work in Tonbridge MC, there's been a huge cutback in hours there and my girlfriend was on a temporary earlies duty which has now been withdrawn leaving her with a 30% reduction in hours. This has left her more than a little stressed and our GP has signed her off with stress for a week. We received a letter this morning asking for her informed consent so that the EHS could access her medical records. My questions are:

a. Can we simply refuse? Or are we obliged to say yes because of some wording in our contracts?
b. Is there any obligation to respond at all?

Many thanks!

[Yahoorsur]

IMHO,tell them NO,you are not giving your permission for them to access health records,ffs these are private confidential documents between you and your Dr,who's going to read them? some snotty face berk who's done some training in HR 'communication and support'
Your GP has done 6-7? years training to be a qualified medical practitioner,I think he knows when someone needs to be off work.


And I dont care what it says in anyone's contract,RM managers and EHS are not qualified to comment on health matters.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

My advice get guidance from your doctor - Medical records are deeply personal. They should not be shared without express consent. Consent should be fully informed and freely given, with no undue pressure applied; it should be clear to the data subject precisely what they are consenting to - there should be no extension of purpose at a later time; and it must be possible for consent to be revoked at a later date.

So if EHS ask for consent make sure you know:

What you are consenting to.
How long and for what reason are they requesting access to your records.
How will it be possible for you to revoke consent if you choose or you believe that access is no longer required.
Why do they want to access it.
What protection will the information they get be under and how who will get access to your records.
Will your manager receive any medical information relating to query. If so ask that no personal details/medical matters are passed to him.

There is a site that might provide some help Frequently asked questions about accessing health records http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorg ... /DH_065886" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[woofwoof]

they are independent so i would as they could turn around and say what are you hiding at the end off the day its up to you

[General Mannerheim]

I hope in their letter they also informed you that you have:
The right to withhold consent.
The right to state that you wish access to the report.
The right to see the report before it`s sent to atos,or indeed after.
The right to request amendments to the medical report.
If you state that you want to see the report,atos must inform your GP when asking for the medical report and they must inform you of this,you then have 21 days from the application of the request to see your medical records to make arrangements to see the report,otherwise you lose the right to see it!
This is the bit that irrates me though.

If an employee refuses to co-operate in providing medical evidence or to having an independent medical examination(presumably off one of their quack doctors)then they can inform you that based on the information avaliable they could very well dismiss you.
Take heart though as my doctor told them to go to feck when they tried getting access to my medical records...shame.

[nelson]

Go to the Doctors and ask them to inform you first of ANY request from anyone,that could be Insurance Company's or employer they add this to your notes. Then refuse to release them unless the Doctor and you agree . That way no party knows who refused. If you then want to let them access it can be on YOUR terms only, you can give them consent and save any hassle

[norbert]

they are independent so i would as they could turn around and say what are you hiding at the end off the day its up to you

it can get quite nasty if they aren't provided - basically it's you can't prove that you're not malingering so we'll do you for it

[brothermagrew]

Relying on the worker’s consent:
There are limitations as to how far consent can be relied on as a basis for the processing of information about workers’ health. To be valid, consent must be:

explicit. This means the worker must have been told clearly what personal data are involved and have been properly informed about the use that will be made of them. The worker must have given a positive indication of agreement, e.g. a signature.

freely given. This means the worker must have a real choice whether or not to consent and there must be no penalty imposed for refusing to give consent.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 28&t=13776" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[k979aaa]

Relying on the worker’s consent:
There are limitations as to how far consent can be relied on as a basis for the processing of information about workers’ health. To be valid, consent must be:

explicit. This means the worker must have been told clearly what personal data are involved and have been properly informed about the use that will be made of them. The worker must have given a positive indication of agreement, e.g. a signature.

freely given. This means the worker must have a real choice whether or not to consent and there must be no penalty imposed for refusing to give consent.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 28&t=13776" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is like the spanish inquisition with royalmail confess or we will continue the torture of the guilty as they see it even though we are all innocent until proven otherwise.

[norbert]

Relying on the worker’s consent:
There are limitations as to how far consent can be relied on as a basis for the processing of information about workers’ health. To be valid, consent must be:

explicit. This means the worker must have been told clearly what personal data are involved and have been properly informed about the use that will be made of them. The worker must have given a positive indication of agreement, e.g. a signature.

freely given. This means the worker must have a real choice whether or not to consent and there must be no penalty imposed for refusing to give consent.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 28&t=13776" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is like the spanish inquisition with royalmail confess or we will continue the torture of the guilty as they see it even though we are all innocent until proven otherwise.

Puritan era with hypocritical H&B wasn't backward enough for RM , they have to go a few more centuries back , and they've the nerve to call the Union . Kindest thing you can say about RM is that there must be one hell of a fear culture and pressure . :lfo :cfo

[NumptyBumpty]

I might be mistaken, but I think that everyone is over-reacting here, I thought the informed consent letter was to satisfy the Data Protection Act so that RM can share their information with EHS as they are an outside company. Does the letter ask for your GP's details and specifically state that they will write to your GP?

AFAIK, this letter just allows RM to send your Absence Record to EHS.

[andy2007]

No, in this case, it's to allow the EHS to gain access to your Medical Records. You have the legal right to refuse, and if you are penalised for refusing. Then the law is supposed to protect you.

Personally, I always allowed them to have access to my Medical Records. Because I have a chronic condition, which until they got it under control, resulted in me having a lot of Sick Leave. And I wanted them to see for themselves, that they were all genuine illnesses. And that I was still undergoing tests to find out what was wrong with me.