AIBU to lose sleep over pre employment health check?

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I've just got myself a brand new job. This is all fantastic, but I have just been asked to fill out some medical forms as part of the pre employment process and for some reason it all seems very invasive to me!

I have two main concerns-

1. How honest do I have to be? I don't have any major health issues, and I don't need any adjustments to be made. I do have very painful periods due to some hormonal disturbances. As a child I had some health issues which have now been fully resolved. Do I need to mention these?

1. Just how much information can they get about me from the NHS? I ask because I don't want them to get contradictory information from two different sources. I haven't been in UK for that long and I've never been treated by the NHS for anything. However, they probably do have some details about my medical history from when I registered with them. I called my GP surgery and asked exactly what information they would give out about me to an employer and the lady categorically said that they would reveal nothing. She said that they wouldn't even acknowledge that I was registered there. Unfortunately, this isn't what the NHS website states It states that a GP can pass on details of medical history to a potential employer and that I can ask to see what these might be before they are passed on... I don't know what to believe here and I would be grateful if someone with more information could clarify this for me.

You sound excessively anxious about this. These are very minor conditions which will come up very frequently on pre employment questionnaires and cause no issues whatsoever. Just fill the form in with the truth and there won't be any problems.

Is there a particular reason you are so concerned? Have you had issues with your health and employment in the past? Is this the first time you've filled in one of these forms?

Lightasthebreeze

It is just occasional chest complaints (not even actual asthma anymore).

I am baffled

If you have a tight chest that occurs in cold weather and you need to take an asthma medication to prevent it from getting worse than that is actual asthma. You will not fool anybody by pretending it isn't. Least of all an occupational health professional.

If you really are against having to discuss this with a health professional I can see why you might not want to mention the theophylline but it honestly is just a rubber stamping thing, particularly if this is just a desk job.

Honestly, they're really not going to give asthma and period pains a second thought in your average office job.

ClayDavis, I have a cousin doesn't have asthma and she still gets a tight chest during cold weather conditions :) These symptoms aren't limited to asthmatics. They can even be brought on by allergies!

what are you worried about?

It's obviously not asthma coz no one really gives a shit about it in real employment world

I am stressed because the form is a bit bizarre and doesn't give me enough room to explain what I need to.

I don't want to be accused of lying when the stupid form is so poorly structured.

How much space are they giving you to answer? It doesn't need to be an essay, bullet points will do. You can always add another sheet of paper at the end (again just a few bullet points to clarify if you run out of space).

Aviolin. - work in HR so I would like to reassure you.

Is the questionnaire being sent back to an occupational Heath provider or back to HR. In most cases the questionnaire are sent back to occupational health where the are reviewed by a medical professional.

I do not see what my employees put on the forms. I simply get a report stating X is fit to work. I do not see what has been put on the form. Very occasionally, I get a report stating further information is required before the OH can confirm they are for to work. I always speak with the employee to find out if they are happy to see the OH doctor, etc.

I would expect my employees to fill out the form as truthfully as possible (whilst recognising that nobody can remember every occasion they have seen there GP in their whole life!)

I normally keep my answers brief e.g. Mild asthma, controlled by X as when needed, never required time off work.

If you are worried I would suggest you ring the number on the form to check how the data will be handled and by whom.

As you work in Finance I can only imagine that something like lots of back pain/problems would be flagged as your role would be desk based. In that case I would be normally be informed that you are fit to work but would require a work station assessment when you start (which every new employee should have anyway).

Regarding drug and alcohol tests. The company i work for does them. However, we have many employees who work in a safety critical industry. All new starters are sent a copy of the drug and alcohol policy when the get sent their offer of employment. They are required to sign and return a consent form consenting to both random and for cause drug and alcohol testing.

Basically, if they haven't told you there is a D&A policy and obtained your consent to do a D&A test then can't do one.

Op I wonder if you suffer or have suffered from a much more serious illness that you haven't mentioned?. Otherwise your posts and worries seem quite bizarre especially your worries about very painful periods which are the bane of many women

There is drug and alcohol policy (is there really an employer who doesn't have one??) but no specific consent has been obtained for tests. They have simply said in a handbook that they might do these tests on employees they are "suspicious" of in order to protect other employees.

I'm not sure it's that mirry2. I think she's just got her head in a bit of a mess over it and now can't quite see the wood for the trees.

It's reasonably understandable if you don't really understand what the form is for or how it is going to be used. The OP said she hadn't been in the UK long. If she's from somewhere with even less employment protection than there is here that would make it worse. Add to that a short period of depression which other people can be a bit funny about and it starts to make sense a bit.

Where I am from originally, declaring any medical conditions on a form can be a potential cause of dismissal. Employees don't have too many rights.

I understand that there are protective policies in place for employees here in the UK, but to be honest if an employer did withdraw an offer over something on a medical form, there is virtually no way that I could prove it.

They could come up with a million other reasons for withdrawing the offer.

I know someone who had an offer withdrawn because the company stated that they had changed their mind about hiring new recruits due to financial difficulty.

Furthermore, since so many offers nowadays are conditional on something or another anyway, they don't hold up very well in court and employers can quite easily withdraw them.

i really wouldn't worry, so many people get asthma and it is an office job. The sort of jobs asthma is a problem with would be some very physical jobs out in all weathers, some food production type jobs in a dusty atmosphere or working with animals, that type of thing.

The thing it most affects in your case is not the job but the health insurance which if you don't declare it you may find you are not properly covered as health insurances are usually quite strict on what they pay out on.

I appreciate you are worried but please, think logically. Do you really think they'd change their mind at this late stage because you have 2 common and non-serious health complaints? They've gone this far in terms of employment, probably already spent money on you and are just waiting for your first day. :)

You've had lots of expert opinion and people have shared their experiences. Not sure what more you want from us. This is something you're going to have to work through in your head. Be kind to yourself!

With regards to what a GP may or may not reveal to your employer, I frequently need to request specific medical information about individuals (with their consent) from GP's. In quite a few cases I don't just get a page relating to the medical condition I get the whole file that I have to plough through to get the required information. In many practices they do this as they think it's easier for them to just copy the whole file then find the relevant bit. You may therefore find all records get to your employer, so I would advise you to fully disclose. I get the sense from your posts that there is something in the background that you don't want to disclose either to your employer or us (and I don't blame you), but it's difficult to give advice without all the information. I'm not sure I understand the issue of there not being enough room on the form to put all the details, just put them on a separate piece of paper.

Companies need to be aware of some medical conditions in case say if you did have bad asthma, people like 1st aiders are aware so they know what to do and it doesn't come as a surprise if you had an attack, some conditions need you to carry a card for this reason but it doesn't mean they won't employ you.

Exactly. On the basis that they want to employ humans not machines everyone will have something to write down from a dodgy back to knee surgery to PND to migranes.... something. I'd have thought a blank form would ring huge alarm bells.
Better lie and make something up, then

And telling her 3.5 years later is really helpful

they have only asked me for the GP's details. They have not yet asked me for consent to contact him.
Then I would only provide GP details when they actually want to contact them, after they have told me what they want to contact them for.