Clause 17
Welfare Reform Bill
5:45 pm
Tim Boswell (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Daventry, Conservative)
The Under-Secretary of State has made it clear that the basic responsibility for medical advice lies with the claimant’s GP. As I understand it—she will disabuse me if I am wrong—that advice is privileged between the GP and their patient who is, for this purpose, the claimant. Therefore the personal adviser, or the person who has conducted a work-related health-focused assessment, has no locus in the matter. It would be an entirely private matter if the GP said, “You should no longer take these drugs or you should take more of these drugs,” and the person failed todo it.
I fully understand the Minister’s assurance that this may be a precedence in IB and may never have given rise to any problems, but there is the potential of a confidentiality problem. Of course, if someone conducting an assessment on behalf of the Department sees an acute medical condition, they have a professional duty to draw that to the attention of any medical adviser in the patient/claimant’s best interests. There is at least a sensitivity there. The Minister may like to reflect on how this will be tied up and who best will carry it out.