Medical reports and the law 



GP reports, and reports by any consultant following a GP referral, are covered by the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 (AMRA). AMRA entitles individuals to see medical reports by their GP, or any other medical practitioner responsible for their care, in connection with their employment. The Act says that:



• the employer must obtain the individual’s consent before seeking a report from their GP;



• the individual has the legal right to a copy of the report before it is forwarded to the employer and to query items in it; and



• if the doctor refuses to accept the employee’s objections, they should be attached to the report.



AMRA only applies to reports by a medical practitioner “responsible for the clinical care of the individual” (i.e. a GP or consultant). It does not normally apply to reports by a company doctor or external occupational health adviser. Even so, these medical professionals are bound by professional medical duties of confidentiality. They must only send a medical report to the employer with the worker’s informed consent. Consent can only be “informed” if the worker knows what is in the report. It is usually sensible for the worker to make it clear that they want to see the final report before consenting to its release to the employer.


The same applies to reports produced by an occupational health case worker under the government’s Fit for Work service. The worker’s informed consent is required at every stage (see page 292).



Data protection laws apply to medical reports. Medical information is “sensitive personal data” and the employer must comply with all the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and Part 4 of the Information Commissioner’s Code of Practice: Information about workers’ health, available from the website of the Information Commissioner.


In particular, the Code says that information must be kept confidential and secure, should be relevant and accurate, and must be kept for no longer than necessary. Employers should have a confidential waste policy for the shredding of medical reports that are no longer required after a specific time period. See also Chapter 4: Data Protection.