Adding a MED3

To create an electronic MED3 Doctors Statement:

  1. From Consultation Manager , select the patient required and open a consultation if required.
  2. Enter the consultation details as per your usual practice protocols.
    Note - If you open an active problem, the Problem Header Read term is used to populate Diagnosis. See MED3 Information and Additional Information for further details.
  3. Once the consultation information is recorded, either:
    • Right click on a journal entry and select Create MED3.
    • Select Add - MED3, remember you can use Alt + A then Alt + 3 on your keyboard.
    • Enter one of the qualifying MED3 Read terms, see MED3 Standard Information.
    • Right click on any existing MED3 data entry and select one of the following options:
  4. The MED3 Doctors Statement - Add screen displays:

    The MED3 Doctor’s Statement form consists of four sections which should be completed:

    Standard information consists of:

    • Date of Recording (mandatory) - The date of the examination triggering the MED3 to be issued, automatically defaults to the current date. There is no limit to how far back the date can be, however, if the date is 26 weeks or more from the current date a warning displays, select Yes to continue or No to return to re-enter the date.
    • Clinician (mandatory) - Select the GP authorising the MED3.
    • Private - Tick to indicate the certificate or patient is private.
    • In Practice - Tick to record the place of the recording.
    • Type (mandatory) - Select from:
      • New - To create a new MED3 form to be printed and given to the patient.
      • Issued by hand - To record the details of a MED3 you have handwritten, see Adding an Issue by Hand MED3 for details.

    • Read Term - The list available varies depends on the Type and Refrain from work selections. Select the appropriate MED3 Read Term from the available list. The options are:

      • New with Refrain from Work selected:

        • 9D15.00 eMED3 (2010) new statement issued, not fit for work

        • 9D1B.00 MED3 (2010) not issued to patient

        • 9D1C.00 MED3 (2010) issued to patient

      • New with Refrain from work deselected:

        • 9D16.00 eMED3 (2010) new statement issued, may be fit for work

        • 9D1E.00 MED3 (2010) issued - recommend phased return to work

        • 9D1F.00 MED3 (2010) issued - recommend altered hours

        • 9D1G.00 MED3 (2010) issued - recommend amended duties

        • 9D1H.00 MED3 (2010) issued - recommend workplace adaption

      • Issued by hand

        • 9D19.00 MED3 (2010) issued by hand, not fit for work

        • 9D1A.00 MED3 (2010) issued by hand, may be fit for work

    The following Read codes trigger the MED3 data entry form, but do not populate Read Term:

    • 9D1..00 MED3 - Doctor’s Statement
    • 9D11.00 MED3 issued to patient
    • 9D12.00 MED3 duplicate issued
    • 9D13.00 MED3 not issued to patient
    • 9D14.00 MED3 issued - back to work
    • 9D1Z.00 MED3 NOS

    The MED3 Form Information section (excluding follow-up assessment details) prints on the MED3 form:

    Note - Print Preview and Print Form remain inactive until the criteria required is met.

    • Refrain from Work - Ticked by default, indicating that the patient is not fit for work.
      Note - It is a DWP regulation that when you record a period of absence of under 15 days, the From and Until dates are mandatory.
    • From - Defaults to today, it should be the date that the MED3 starts, updated if required.
    • For - Enter the period the patient should refrain from work. You can use the abbreviated date format, for example 7d (7 days), 1w (1 week) or 1m (1 month) but no more than a three digit number can be entered.

      You can also record an indefinite period, type i or indefinite in For and press enter. You are prompted: 'The period you have entered is valid if the patient has been unfit for work for 6 months prior to assessment. Click Yes to confirm if this is correct of click No to re-enter.', select Yes to continue.

    • Until - Enter the exact date the patient should refrain from work until or use the abbreviated date format, for example 1w, the date is then automatically calculated.

      If you enter a For or Until time period longer than 3 months or 13 weeks from the date of recording, the 'The period you have entered is valid if the patient has been unfit for work for 6 months prior to assessment. Click Yes to confirm if this is correct of click No to re-enter.' message displays, select Yes to continue.

      Note - You must enter a duration or date into For or Until if you want to print the MED3. You are only permitted to fill in one of these options, so typing into either blanks out the other.
    • Diagnosis (mandatory) - Diagnosis may initially be populated. If you add a Clinical Diagnosis, the Read term is copied to Diagnosis. You can delete the existing entry and enter free text if appropriate.
      Note - On opening the MED3 form, a Read code may display in Clinical Diagnosis and the Read term added as free text to Diagnosis. If you have a problem open, the problem header Read code is used, if no problem is open and a single Medical History is added in the current consultation, the Read term is used to populate the diagnosis fields. If you create a new MED3 using an existing Medical History, the form is populated with the Read term from the entry used.
    • Remarks - You can enter free text if required (up to 800 characters). If you have selected Refrain from Work this is optional. If you deselected Refrain from Work remarks are mandatory.
    • Follow-up assessment required - Tick if you need to re-assess the patient’s fitness for work at the end of this statement. This option is unavailable without a For or Until date. You are prompted 'The patient needs to be assessed again at the end of the period. Please arrange to review them.', select OK to continue. You cannot enter a follow-up date in the past. The follow-up date automatically calculates and displays. The printed MED3 Statement shows that a review is required. In you can create a search to find any follow-up dates that are due:

    • Deselect Refrain from Work to indicate that the patient may be fit for work. The following optional selections can be made to indicate which (if any) work adjustments you feel would be beneficial to the patient. Tick one or more boxes:
      • Phased return (optional) - Tick to indicate the patient may benefit from a phased return to work.
      • Altered hours (optional) - Tick to indicate the patient may benefit from altered working hours.
      • Amended duties (optional) - Tick to indicate the patient may benefit from amended duties to enable them to return to work.
      • Adaptations (optional) - Tick to indicate the patient requires workplace adaptations to enable them to return to work.

    If you have deselected Refrain from Work, For and Until are disabled and Remarks becomes mandatory, the Read code changes to 9D16.00 - eMED3 (2010) new statement issued, may be fit for work. A more appropriate Read code can be selected from the drop-down list if required.

    Remember - The MED3 Form Information contains the details that print, however excludes follow-up assessment details.

    The Additional information section allows you to record additional details, the information can then be viewed from Consultation Manager as part of the MED3 entry but is not included on the printed MED3 form:

    Complete as follows:

    • Requested by (mandatory) - Defaults to Patient, update as required.
    • Circumstances - You can record additional information regarding the MED3 request. Select from the available list.
    • Clinical Diagnosis (mandatory) - This may populate automatically (see Note below). If not already populated, you can add a clinical diagnosis in the usual way. If a free text comment has not been added, the selected Read term is copied to Diagnosis.
      Note - On opening the MED3 data entry form, a Read code may be displayed in Clinical Diagnosis and the Read term added as free text to Diagnosis. If you have a problem open, the problem header Read code is used. If no problem is open and a single Medical History is added in the current consultation, the Read term is used to populate the diagnosis fields. If you create a new MED3 using an existing Medical History, the form is populated with the Read term from the entry used.
    • Additional Notes - You can enter free text if required.
      Remember - The information recorded under the Additional Information section of the electronic MED3 is for patient record purposes only, it is not printed on the MED3 form.

    To save an electronic version for sending and marking as sent:

    1. Once the MED3 data entry form is complete, Save to File is ticked by default and Save Form displays.

    2. Select Save Form:

    3. The file saves in P:\WORDPROC\EMED3\User login name\EMED3_ NNNNNNNNNN_Forename_Surname_YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.pdf where:

      • User login name is your Vision 3 log in name.

      • NNNNNNNNNN is the patient’s NHS Number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or CHI Number in Scotland.

      • Forename_Surname is the forname and surname of the patient.

      • YYYYMMDD is the date created.

      • hhmmss is the time created.

      You can access this from your File Explorer to, for example, attach to an email.

      Note - If you edit an existing MED3, Vision 3 creates a new file with the relevant file name, see Editing a MED3 Form for details if required.

    4. To record you have sent this MED3 electronically, select Sent to Patient. The date, time and ‘MED3 form sent to patient’ automatically displays in Additional Notes.

    To print a MED3 form:

    1. Once the MED3 data entry form is complete, select Print Preview.
    2. The MED3 displays as PDF document, check the details.
    3. Select Close.
    4. Remove the tick in Save to File.
    5. Select Print Form and the MED3 is sent directly to the printer.
    6. If the MED3 fails to print, select Print Form again. You are asked 'This form has already been printed previously. Is this a re-print Operation?', select Yes to reprint.
    7. The reprint is sent directly to the printer.
    8. Now, check the MED3 details on the data entry form, add any additional information required, then select OK to save.

    The printed MED3 includes a 2D Barcode containing all the information that is printed on the form plus a unique ID at the bottom of the form. The unique ID is an identifier for the practice, it does not contain any patient information. This is also stored in the patient record and can be viewed from the MED3 audit trail, see Reporting and Interaction of MED3 Data for details.

    The Print Preview and Print Form options are inactive if:

    • If you have chosen the Read code 9D1B.00 MED3 (2010) not issued to patient.
    • There is no diagnosis and/or Refrain from Work is ticked with no date.
    Note - MED3 data entries can be filtered in Consultation Manager by selecting Miscellaneous from the navigation pane.

    Wales Only

    For practices in Wales, when you select Print Form you are prompted to select the appropriate language for the MED3:

    • English - To print the MED3 in English.
    • Welsh - To print the MED3 in Welsh. If Welsh is selected, the data transferred from Vision for example Diagnosis remains in English.
      Note - Read terms and items selected from drop-down lists cannot be printed in Welsh. However if Welsh comments are added to Remarks, they are shown in Welsh on the printed form.
  1. Complete as appropriate, mandatory entries are marked with a red asterisk.
  2. Finally, select OK to save.
Note - To print this topic select Print in the top right corner and follow the on-screen prompts.