§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hand-written medical reports in relation to(a) Attendance Allowance, (b) Disability Living Allowance and (c) Incapacity Benefit were prepared by doctors employed by Medical Services or its predecessors, in the five years to October 2001; how many of these reports were completed by a person other than the relevant doctor; how many completed by someone other than the relevant doctor were the subject of disability appeal tribunal hearings; in how many of the cases, which were the subject of appeal, the original decision was altered on the basis of medical evidence; and how many claimants sought and received copies of the hand-written medical reports. [86118]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownIn the period 1 September 1998 to 31 October 2001 790,023 Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance reports and 1,450,554 Incapacity Benefit reports were completed. No records are kept of the number of reports completed before the contract for Medical Service was let in September 1998.
All reports were provided by approved doctors and were hand written. In July 2001 Medical Services were made aware of two reports which had been completed by another person, from contemporaneous notes made by the approved doctor, in the interests of better legibility. As a result, guidance was issued to all doctors that no report for Medical Services can be hand written by any person other than the relevant doctor.
As the Department does not keep records of the information used by a decision maker in individual cases it is not possible to identify the number of appeals related to reports completed by someone other than the 855W relevant doctor. Neither is it possible to identify cases where the original decision was altered on the basis of medical evidence.
The Department does not keep records of requests made for copies of medical reports.