§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to apply(a) the commitment given by his predecessor on 8 July 1988, Official Report, column 1355, during the passage of the Access to Medical Reports Act and (b) the provisions of the Access to Health Records Act 1990 to medical reports prepared by the Benefits Agency for its own use or that of an equivalent authority overseas; and if they will be available to, and may be corrected by, the subject of the report. [41997]
§ Mr. Roger EvansIt has for many years been the practice of the Department of Social Security to supply copies of medical reports in connection with claims to benefit at the request of the claimant, subject to any information which could be detrimental to the claimant's well-being removed.
In the event of an appeal against a decision made by the independent adjudicating authorities, copies of all reports are supplied to the claimant, again subject to withholding information as described above. If the claimant disagrees with the information in the reports, an appeal to the relevant tribunal is the means by which they can express their disagreement.