AMRA – Access To Medical Records Act 1988. An act which states that an employer cannot apply for a medical report from a doctor who has been responsible for a person’s physical or mental care without the individuals consent
Apportionment – This is a (lawful) method of reducing an injury award due to some other reason (usually another injury), other than the duty injury. It is open to abuse as there should be evidence that the other factors cause a loss of future earning capacity. This method of reducing awards is increasing as other methods have failed.
ASHE
CRA – Compulsory Retirement Age. Under the relevant Police Pension Acts and Regulations the compulsory retirement age set for police officers is: Federated ranks – 60 years; Superintendents and ACPO ranks – 65 years.
DPA – Data Protection Act 1998. An act which defines the ways in which information about living people may be legally used and handled. The main intent is to protect individuals against misuse or abuse of information about them.
CMO
FOIA – Freedom Of Information Act 2000. An act that creates a public “right of access” to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level.
GMC – General Medical Council. Most, if not all doctors are members of the GMC, and as the Selected Medical Practitioner will be a “duly qualified medical practitioner”, they will be a member and therefore come under its rules and guidelines, including their confidentiality guide.
ICO – Information Commissioners Office. An independent authority in the UK that promotes openness of official information and protection of private information. The ICO oversees: The Data Protection Act and The Freedom of Information Act. Practical experience suggests that they are not very open or fair, rarely upholding complaints.
IDRP – Internal dispute Resolution Procedure. Section 50 of the Pensions Act 1995 requires all occupational pension schemes (other than very small schemes) to introduce formal internal dispute resolution (IDR) procedures for dealing with complaints from scheme members. The detailed procedures to be followed are set out in the Occupational Pension Schemes (Internal Dispute Resolution Procedures) Regulations 1996- Sl 1996 No.1270 (the IDRP Regulations).
IHR – Ill Health Retirement. Consideration as to whether an officer can retire in receipt of this comes under Regulation 30-(2) of The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, where a duly qualified medical practitioner has to decide (a) whether the person concerned is disabled, and (b) whether the disablement is likely to be permanent, An Ill health pension is not dependent upon an injury pension, and vice versa.
IOD – Injury On Duty. A shorthand way of saying an officer in receipt of an injury award i.e all of us!
JR – Judicial Review. A procedure by which a court can review an administrative action by a public body and (in England) secure a declaration, order, or award.
NWEF
PEAM – Police Earnings Assessment Matrix. A method of calculating what an individual could earn with and without disability. PEAM is a copyright methodology by a company called Redwood Consulting, and was presented to a meeting of the National Attendance Management Forum on 24th April 2009. The product is licensed for use. Staffordshire Police, do not use PEAM itself, but something similar (son-of-PEAM), probably to avoid licensing costs.
PIBR – The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. The first set of these regulations came out in 1987, followed by an updated set in 2006. They are essentially the same, and are the rule book for how injury pensions are awarded and reviewed. Often people will refer to Reg [xx]. This simply means Regulation [xx] or section [xx] of the Regulations.
PMAB – Police Medical Appeal Board. A Police Medical Appeal Board usually consists of a panel of three (two occupation health doctors and a specialist in the condition being assessed). If a person disagrees with the decision of a Selected Medical Practitioner they have 28 days to appeal to a Police Pension Authority within 28 days of receipt of formal notification.
PPA – Police Pension Authority. The Chief Constable is the Police Pension Authority. He is supposed to make decisions required by The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 as the Police Pension Authority. He can delegate all of his powers, but cannot divest himself of ultimate responsibility.
Reg 12 – The refers to Regulation 12 of The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, and is a section that whereby an additional disablement gratuity of “five times the annual value of his pensionable pay “, or “the sum of four times his total remuneration during the 12 months”, shall be paid, if retirement was due to an injury and “within 12 months of so receiving that injury, becomes or became totally and permanently disabled as a result of that injury”.
Reg 32 or Reg 32
Reg 37 or Reg 37
SAR – Subject Access Request. It is simply a written request made by or on behalf of an individual for the information which he or she is entitled to ask for under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). It has nothing to do with The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. The body to whom the request is made should provide you with a copy either on paper or electronically of all information held about you. It costs £10 to make the application, and in law they have to comply in 40 days.
SMP – Selected Medical Practitioner. Under The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, all medical decisions have to be made by a “duly qualified medical practitioner”. They are usually referred to as an SMP.
Substantial Alteration – In order to change an injury award, this is hurdle that the forces have to overcome as defined by Regulation 37-(1) of The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 – “if after such consideration the police authority find that the degree of the pensioner’s disablement has substantially altered, the pension shall be revised accordingly.”