Notifiable Diseases

Notification of a number of specified infectious diseases is required under the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) 1988 Act and the Public Health (Control of Diseases) 1984 Act.

Doctors in England and Wales have "a statutory duty to notify a 'proper officer' of the Local Authority of suspected cases of certain infectious diseases". The proper officers are required every week to inform the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Infections (CfI) about details of each case of each disease that has been notified.

This allows analyses of local and national trends. This information is collected by the HPA.¹

Requirements may differ for Northern Ireland² and Scotland.³

Notification takes place via the appropriate form and includes:

• Patient's name, age, sex and home address
• The disease or form of poisoning being reported
• Date of onset of symptoms
• If in hospital also:
  • Hospital address
  • Day admitted
  • Whether the disease was contracted in hospital
  • Telephone or fax can be used in urgent cases

A fee is payable for notification.

Notify leprosy directly to the HPA.

There is widespread under-reporting and lack of compliance with these guidelines, both in the UK and abroad.^12,13,14