There is the potential for applicants for medical certificates to attempt to circumvent the medical assessment process by inaccurately representing their state of health through the misreporting of their treatment, including undisclosed medications and possible multiple GPs and other health professionals. This risk is shared by other transport modes that require a person to hold a medical certificate or make a declaration on their health status. A national health database would provide one means of addressing this risk.
On 28 June 2017 the Commission recommended to the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health that he consider adding the following functions to the national electronic health record database under development:
- that a person's occupation be added to the record to allow monitoring of individuals who hold transport-related documents that require periodic medical checks, and who have potentially adverse health conditions or medications, so that the appropriate authority can be alerted to possible public safety risks
- a mechanism to draw the attention of all health practitioners to their obligation to notify the appropriate transport authority when a person or patient has a health condition or need for medication that could pose a threat to public safety in that individual's occupation.