Provide health evidence

Why we ask for evidence

We need to know that people applying to join our register meet our health requirements to ensure they can practise safely and effectively. 

Declaring a health condition and/or disability doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to join our register; we just need to be sure that you have taken steps to manage this, so that you're able to practise safely and effectively.

Our health and character guidance gives you detailed information about how we approach health concerns.

You will need to

1. Complete a self-declaration

We’ll need some information about your health to make sure that you are able to practise safely and effectively.

We’ll ask:

• if you have a health condition and/or disability that currently affects or could affect your ability to practise safely and effectively 
• whether you are managing your health condition and/or disability so that you can practise safely and effectively

You don’t need to tell us about any conditions you're managing appropriately.

What if I have a health condition and/or disability which is not managed?

If you tell us that you have a health condition and/or disability which isn’t managed, we’ll give you the opportunity to provide more information to help us decide whether if could affect your practice.

We won’t stop you from submitting your application if you don’t give any more information, but it would help us to assess your application more quickly if you do.

We'll ask you to tell us:

• its nature and seriousness; for example frequency, impact on your practice, and duration
• how it affects your practice and why you feel that it doesn’t need to be managed
• how you make sure that you don’t put patients and others at risk
• tell us if there is a pattern, any triggers or it is a recurring issue
• for instance, is it active or relapsing

You can also upload any documents or reports that comment on your health condition and/or disability, how it affects or could affect your ability to practise safely and effectively and what steps you need to take to let you practise safely and effectively.

We may still need to ask you for more information once we’ve reviewed your application.

2. Nominate someone to make a supporting declaration

We'll ask you to provide contact details for a registered medical practitioner to give a supporting declaration about your health. This could be your GP or family doctor, or occupational health practitioner, but they cannot be a friend or family member.

You must confirm you have consent to share their details with us.

The person you nominate will need to:

• confirm they’ve carried out your health assessment in the last six months
• confirm they’re qualified to complete your health declaration.

They will also need to either:

• verify and agree with the information you have given us about your health, or
• explain why they may not agree with what you have told us about your health and why they feel you may not be capable of safe and effective practice due to a health condition and/or disability you may have

Contact them before you begin

Make sure you contact your nominated medical practitioner before submitting your application, as we’ll ask them to confirm they’ve completed a health assessment in the last six months as part of their declaration.

They may feel that they can do this by reviewing your medical notes, but in some instances they may want to see you in person before completing your declaration, so it’s important you speak with them first before submitting your application.

Your application may be delayed if you don’t contact them before submitting, as we’ll only be able to assess your registration application once we’ve received this information.

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