Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 55
Access to Health Records Act 1990
3.80. The provisions of this Act have largely been superseded, and the 1990 Act 33
now only applies to medical records of deceased individuals. Third-party access
to the medical records of deceased patients may be made under the provisions
of the Act. Only the executor or administrator of the deceased, or a person
having a legal claim arising from the death, is entitled to access. Neither the UK
GDPR nor the Data Protection Act 2018 applies to the data of deceased
persons.
Access to Medical Reports Act 1988
3.81. The Access to Medical Reports Act 34 gives an individual the right to see a
medical report prepared by a medical practitioner responsible for their clinical
care, when requested for employment or insurance purposes, before the report
is sent to the commissioner, and at that stage to withdraw consent.
3.82. The term ‘care’ means examination, investigation or diagnosis for the purpose
of, or in connection with, any form of medical treatment. The terms ‘responsible
for clinical care’ and ‘any form of medical treatment’ are not defined in the Act.
3.83. Although the Access to Medical Reports Act and indeed GMC guidance only
apply to reports from registered medical practitioners, it is good practice for
any health professional requesting reports from a clinician for these purposes
to follow the principles in the Act. There has long been contention around
whether occupational health physicians are responsible for clinical care and
under what circumstances the Act may apply to a request for access to
occupational health reports, most of which are in practice written by nurses or
other health professionals.
While the GMC Guidance on Confidentiality largely ended the need for this
debate, some occupational health activities, such as investigations following a
sharps/needlestick injury at work, prescribing post-exposure prophylaxis for
HIV or immunisation can be seen as clinical care or medical treatment.
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