The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (the Act) gives the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) statutory powers, under section 259(1), to require data from health or social care bodies or organisations who provide health or adult social care in England, where it has been Directed to establish an information system by the Department of Health (DH) (on behalf of the Secretary of State) or NHS England.
When a direction is received, the HSCIC can issue a Data Provision Notice to the appropriate providers of the required data who are then legally required, under section 259(5) of the Act, to provide the data in the form and manner specified below.
The data collected varies per each data extraction, However as an example, below are the details regarding the Med3 extraction.
The purpose of the anonymised data collection is to provide the Department for Work and Pensions with information derived from computer generated ‘Med3’ forms, known as fit notes, to:
- undertake research analysis to inform policy relating to employment and sickness absence, including evaluation of the new Fit for Work service, which provides an occupational health assessment, and Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit
- identify geographic, Intergrated Care System (ICS) and GP practice level differences in sickness absence management to inform policy development and continuous improvement, resulting people returning to work sooner
- enable baseline comparisons for the Fit for Work service
- use fit note data to build an understanding of the drivers for benefit claiming
- enable ICSs to self audit their fit note to inform their own policy and commissioning decisions
This collection is formed of anonymous data extracted from fit notes issued in GP practice systems. The data includes:
- How many eMED3 fit notes are issued
- How many patients are recorded as ‘unfit’ or ‘maybe fit’ for work
- Fit note duration
- Gender
- Health condition type aggregated to a high level diagnosis code, for example, paranoid schizophrenia would be classed as a Mental Disorder
- Location, including ICS areas
- Whether workplace adaptations were recommended
What can I do if I don’t want my record shared?
If you don’t want to have your information shared, please contact reception.