What can I do about this? (medical report related)

[NaToth]

I have posted before about what is now nearly a five month fight to get a decision about whether I can go back to work after a period of four moths sick leave, a request I made as long ago as 20 April.

Finally, we have a consultant report. This arrived yesterday in the post - a copy of the report that has been sent to my employer's OH provider. Checking back, I quite clearly requested to see a copy of the report before it was sent out and, had I been able to do so, I would have been able to say that my job role is wrong (and therefore my duties) and also the dosages of my long term medication. There may be other things, but I don't feel I can look at it today.

This feels like the latest in a frightening number of screw ups since I was diagnosed with a serious illness last December.

What, if anything can I do about this? I did contact my union rep back in May, but he has done nothing to support me and confines himself now to making snide comments that I find quite inappropriate in reply to my e mails.

Thanks

There may be other things, but I don't feel I can look at it today.

OP, I know it feels horrible, but your best bet is to force yourself to sit down this afternoon, list all the errors and email them back to the report author overnight.

I would also email your employer's OH rep overnight (copying the report author) to let them know the errors and to advise that you're awaiting a revised report. It's important that they know this before they pick up the report and assume it's correct.

It's hard when it's something so stressful which triggers a lot of fear and anxiety, but that's all the more reason to fight the bits you can within good time.

Make sure all your communication with the union rep is by email so there's a record, and I'd dig out the complaints procedure for that too as you don't want to go on accepting a situation where you feel unsupported by your own union.

Sounds like a dreadful situation you're in there. On a purely practical level, I think you should do the following (in writing, so that there is a record) :

1 Alert your employer's HR department and OH provider to the fact that there are errors in the consultant's report. They'll be able to see that the details of your role are incorrect, anyway. Tell them that you're approaching the consultant for a factually correct report to facilitate your early return to work.

2 Ask the consultant to review the report and amend it to reflect the correct role and dosages. Describe the role and give details of the medications and dosage. Underline the fact that you're keen to return to work without further delay.

3 Send copies of 1 and 2 to your Union rep to keep them updated.

I don't think it would be unreasonable to contact the consultant's secretary on a weekly basis asking for an update while you're waiting for a revised report.

The only thing that concerns me is your reluctance to read the report, You really need to specify every inaccuracy in your communication with the consultant.

Don't use emotive language like "screw up" in any of the above! Good luck.

Thanks all. I have been to hell and back since December and the complete failure of OH to deal with anything in an efficient and timely manner has now become part of the problem and the effect on my mental health has been profound.

I can just about handle the practicalities, but can I do anything about the fact that OH asked for my instructions, I checked the box to say I wanted to see the report before it went to them, and they ignored it?

Did you explicitly tell the report author not to disclose it to anyone until you'd approved it?

It sounds like either OH didn't convey your wishes to the report writer or the report writer's secretary forgot to check before sending it to OH.

Even if you did tell the report-writer not to disclose it to OH yet, it sounds like it would be difficult to characterise this as a GDPR breach since the whole point of the report was to disclose it to OH and the only bits that are problematic here are the bits that aren't your personal data anyway (i.e. it's the mistakes you're concerned about, not that they've disclosed something highly sensitive that you didn't want included).

IMO, OP, I don't think you have much to gain by complaining about the premature disclosure of the report as it detracts from the wider issues you're clearly facing here, and it could actually damage your case.

You don't want to give them any ammunition to suggest you're coming across as confrontational or contrary over relatively minor issues - stick to the important points like the fact the report contains significant errors that need to be corrected before it's relied on.

Thank you. That helps. OH have behaved abominably throughout and are neither helping me nor my employers.