Selecting an Independent Registered Medical Practitioner (IRMP)
Each employer must make sure that any medical advisor that they use for ill health retirement referrals has the required qualifications to act as their IRMP. The Pensions Office keeps a record of IRMPs used by our employers. If you wish to change or add an IRMP please check with the Pensions Office to see if that doctor is already used by another employer and is known to us. If they are not known to us you’ll need to submit their name and qualifications to the Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund, along with a scanned copy of their signature. Please contact us using our online enquiry form
An Independent registered medical practitioner qualified in occupational health medicine (IRMP) means:
- holding a diploma in occupational medicine (D Occ Med) or an equivalent qualification issued by a competent authority in an EEA State; and for the purposes of this definition, “competent authority” has the meaning given by section 55(1) of the Medical Act 1983
or
- being an Associate, a Member or a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine or an equivalent institution of an EEA State
The medical advisor must be ‘independent’. The practitioner must not be open to the criticism of acting as the employer’s representative or be concerned with the current treatment of the employee, e.g. the employee’s GP or a treating specialist who may otherwise be placed in a position of conflict of interest.
Also, a doctor cannot be asked to certify an ill health retirement in a case that he/she has already been involved in. It is for this second reason that an employer may wish to choose from a pool of approved and independent advisors.
