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: 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: 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 |