Occupational health: Trust, consent and confidentiality

Health issues can be deeply personal, and for that reason not everyone is comfortable with the thought of their boss knowing intimate details about their physical and mental wellbeing. However, some health issues can have a direct impact on a person’s ability to perform their employment duties and get the most out of their working life.

For this reason, it is sometimes helpful to share certain details with employers so that reasonable adjustments can be made to enable workers to fulfil their role and responsibilities, and to thrive at work.

If your employees have questions or worries about trust, consent and confidentiality when it comes to Occupational Health assessments, read on so the experts at YourGP can put their minds at ease…

The importance of trust

Every doctor-patient relationship at YourGP is based on trust, and the relationships between our Occupational Health experts and your employees are no different. We know that when employees trust our team and fully understand our role, they are more likely to be open and honest during their Occupational Health appointments, which in turn means we can provide better advice that has a bigger positive impact on your employees and your organisation. Without trust, people may withhold certain information, which ultimately benefits no one.

Why you can trust the Occupational Health experts at YourGP

The information your employees share with our Occupational Health experts is protected by ethical and legal standards. As members of the General Medical Council, we adhere to strict confidentiality clauses and ethical standards for preserving patient privacy. We also are also governed by data protection legislation such as UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Because of this, health data cannot be accessed by employers or without explicit, informed patient consent.

What we may need to share

Throughout every stage of an Occupational Health assessment, our team will be fully transparent about the information we can and cannot share. Employees will be made fully aware of what their report will say and who will see it, and why this will only be shared with named individuals with their permission.

The sort of information which may be beneficial to share with employers, with the consent of the employee, includes:

• A summary of the health issue the employee is experiencing.
• The impact the health issue is having on the employee.
• Whether or not the employee is fit for work.
• The estimated timescale for a recovery or a return to work, if applicable.
• Suggestions of any reasonable adjustments to aid the employee in their return to work.
• Advice for employers regarding how to best support the employee.

We would never include personal details in an Occupational Health assessment report that are not relevant to the employee’s work. Additional supporting details would only ever be included if they were important for providing context, and most importantly, only ever with the express consent of the employee.

Speak to the OH experts at YourGP

If you would like more information about how the Occupational Health experts at YourGP could support your employees, call us on 0131 225 5656 or email occhealth@your.gp and we’ll be happy to arrange an appointment at a time that suits you and your work schedule.