122Referral of medical disputes to referee or panel on application of worker or employer

122 Referral of medical disputes to referee or panel on application of worker or employer

122 Referral of medical disputes to referee or panel on application of worker or employer

(cf former s 131)

(1) In this section—

medical dispute means a disagreement between a worker and the employer as to—

(a) the worker’s condition, or

(b) the worker’s fitness for employment.

(2) If there is a medical dispute, the registrar of the Compensation Court must, on the application of either the worker or the employer, refer the medical dispute to a medical panel or (if subsection (3) permits) to a medical referee, but only if—

(a) the worker has submitted himself or herself for examination by a medical practitioner in accordance with a requirement of the employer under section 119 or has been examined by a medical practitioner selected by the worker, and

(b) the employer or worker (as the case may be) has furnished the other with a copy of the medical practitioner’s report of the examination (being a report relevant to the medical dispute).

(3) A medical dispute can be referred under this section to a medical referee only if the registrar is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances to constitute a medical panel. A medical dispute must not in any circumstances be referred to a medical referee if the dispute concerns the extent of a loss, or a further loss, of hearing due to boilermaker’s deafness or any deafness of similar origin.

(4) The registrar of the Compensation Court may refuse to refer any such medical dispute to a medical referee or medical panel if the medical practitioner’s report was not furnished to the other party within 30 days (or such longer period as the worker and the employer may agree) after it was received from the medical practitioner or within such longer period as the registrar of the Compensation Court, in the circumstances of the case, considers justified.

(5) The medical referee or medical panel to whom a medical dispute is so referred is to give a certificate as to—

(a) the worker’s condition, or

(b) the worker’s fitness for employment (specifying, where necessary, the kind of employment for which the worker is fit).