Details From All GP Issued Fit Notes Being Handed Over To DWP From February 2016

On the back of the row over the selling of all NHS patients medical records to whoever wishes to buy them, comes a new and sinister move by the DWP.

From February this year GPs have been told they must hand over information from ALL patient fit notes they issue to the DWP as and whenever they are issued!

Fit notes have replaced previous sick notes and tell the employer what the individual can and cannot do at work or whether or not they should refrain from work altogether for a specific period of time.

These details on the Med 3 Fit Note form will then have to be supplied to the DWP as a matter of course. The key information they will have to supply include ‘the duration of the fit note, patient gender, type of health condition, their location and whether workplace adaptations were recommended.’

Writing in the on-line medical magazine Pulse, Family Doctor Association chair Dr Peter Swinyard said:

"I think that is state snooping. Although I am sure some civil servant thought it was a terrific idea somewhere, I am not entirely sure I agree. I don’t know if patients understand that when I write a fit note, some bureaucrat is going to be able to have a look at it."

A nationally respected advisory organisation, Benefits and Work have reported extensively on the situation with regard to the selling of NHS patients medical records. In this months’ newsletter and on their website, they advise all patients of the NHS of the following information:

'All surgeries should be displaying notices informing patients about the data collection by the DWP and their right to opt out.

At the same time as opting out of this scheme, claimants may want to consider opting out of the Care Data scheme which obliges GPs to pass on your personal medical data via Atos to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

HSCIC will then sell your data to drug companies and other interested parties. The data collected will include your date of birth, postcode, NHS number, gender, health conditions, referrals to specialists, smoking and drinking habits and your body mass index.'

You can find out more about the Care Data scheme here and you will need to opt out by the end of February.

Source: Pulse / Benefits and Work / medConfidential / unionsafety

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