ESA85A

Peggie wrote: Hi All

I have been waiting weeks now for the Manager to look at my files so that I may have copies for my appeal from WRAG to Support Group, under the FOI Act. Telephoned her today to be told that a new directive has been introduced whereby if a doctor has already done a report for benefit claims that they can no longer look at patients files and give copies of any medical notes etc. I pointed out that I had in effect paid for a private report, at the cost of £50, to send with my transfer claim from IB to ESA and that DWP had not sent any forms for my GP to complete. I had to let Benefits and Work mods know about this new problem that may or could be ahead. The Manager had said she is going to have a chat with my GP about this new directive. I asked where it had come from. She said it was to do with the Welsh Office and the fact that GPs are spending a lot of time on appeals. She also seemed to think that it is going to be nationwide. I am awaiting a telephone call on the subject and will update you as soon as I have any news. If this is going to happen and the directive seems to suggest it will then I feel the only way around it would be for no-one to ask or pay their GP for any reports for ESA or DLA to support their claims but to go straight to the end and ask for copies of all their medical reports, docs etc and send these at the outset of their claims instead of at an appeal stage. Have any of you Mods heard of this please? Thankyou in anticipation, regards for the work you all do,

Hi P,

As you have not responded, here is information pertaining to The DWP :

Hi P,
It is not an FOI request that you should have issued, it is a Subject Access Request, (SAR), under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Which can be downloaded from this link :

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/request-for-personal-information.rtf

Have a read of the information on the DWP's own page regarding this :

www.dwp.gov.uk/privacy-policy/data-protection/

And the Information Commissioner's website :

www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information

The DWP are classed as a "Data Controller"

With regards to ATOS/DWP asking for information from a cliamant's G.P. regarding their assessment, this would be done in the form of an ESA113 Questionnaire.

However, DWP/ATOS are under no obligation to send an ESA113 to your G.P. and seldom do so.



If it is your G.P. practice, then the same applies regarding a SAR, as they are also classed as a Data Controller.

Therefore, your G.P. practice cannot refuse to supply copies of your G.P. Med Records, once you have formally requested them.

There will be a charge though.

They can withold any documentation that may be classed as "Harmful Information" you can research this on the internet

G.P.'s are not contractually obliged to provide letters of support or reports that a patient may request, even if the patient offers to pay.

Charging for medical records

Requesting your medical records

bro58