Buddy says: The Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 (AMRA) gives individuals a right of access to medical reports provided by medical practitioners for employment purposes. Section 1 AMRA outlines who is covered and includes individuals who have been, are or are seeking to be employed “whether employed under a contract of service or otherwise”. Employers wishing to obtain a medical report need to notify the employee concerned, in writing, that they intend to make an application and must gain the employee’s consent to the application being made.

Additional information: Employers may wish to obtain a medical report in respect of an employee for a variety of reasons including:

• A pre-employment check where, for example, health is an important factor for the job or membership of a health insurance scheme.
• To assist in identifying whether an employee is suffering from a physical or mental impairment which might constitute a disability for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
• If an employee is on long term absence, to determine the likely date of return, if any.
• If an employee has taken a large amount of intermittent short term absences, whether there is an underlying medical condition.
• To ascertain if an employee may be eligible to receive benefits under a permanent health insurance policy.

Once you have notified the employee in writing that you intend to make an application, and the employee has provided their explicit consent to the application being made, you should supply a copy of the consent to the medical practitioner when seeking a report.

An employee who has been asked to provide their consent to a medical report has three options:

• To withhold their consent;
• To agree to the application and that it can be sent straight to their employer;
• To agree with the application, but request that it is sent to them before it is supplied to their employer.

If an employer has made a request for a report but it is yet to be supplied, the employee can write to their medical practitioner asking to see a copy. The medical practitioner then has 21 days, starting with the date of the notification, in which to allow the employee to see the report (either by going and inspecting it or requesting a copy) before sending it to the employer.

What to do if the employee has requested seeing the report before it is sent to the employer:

• The employer needs to inform the medical practitioner that the employee has asked to see the report.
• The employer must then inform the employee that an application has been made. This is particularly important as the employee needs to know when the 21 day time limit starts from.
• The employee has 21 days in which to contact the medical practitioner in writing to request access to the report.
• If 21 days have lapsed and the employee has not contacted the medical practitioner, then the doctor is entitled to assume that the employee no longer wishes to see the report and that they consent to the report being provided to the employer.
• The employee can make a request in writing to the medical practitioner if there is anything in the report which they think is false or misleading.

An employee who considers that their employer has not complied with any of the provisions of AMRA may apply to the County Court for an order forcing them to comply. Employees are not, however, able to seek damages for an employer’s failure to comply with AMRA. Nor are employers liable to any fines for their failure to comply. Any failure on the part of an employer to follow the statutory procedure could potentially be raised during tribunal proceedings for unfair dismissal or disability discrimination.