New medical module to be launched

England Boxing is to introduce a new online process for recording medicals and injuries via The Vault membership system.

How it will work, the benefits and the answers to some common questions can be found in the following letter that has been sent out to all England Boxing-affiliated clubs.

Dear Member Club,

As a member of England Boxing, we wanted to get in touch and advise you of an important update in regard to the way medicals and boxing injuries are recorded. England Boxing is introducing an online medical process operated via The Vault (membership system).

Over the last few weeks England Boxing have spoken to a number of Doctors in each region and a number of clubs to ask for feedback on the medical module.

We are pleased to announce that the response has been extremely positive in regard to the initiative and seen as the way forward for the safety of our sport. We would like to thank both doctors and clubs who have taken the time to speak to us and given us valuable feedback to assist us to move forward.

The England Boxing Medical Subcommittee have been working with My Next Match  and 4Global, who host The Vault, to develop a software solution to record Boxer Medicals and any injuries which may happen during a Boxing bout.

We wanted to let you know how the Medical Module will work and how it will benefit the Doctors, Clubs and the National Governing Body.

The Medical module gives verified England Boxing doctors digital access to record athlete medical records (annual medical exam, pre and post bout), upload required documents, and when necessary; apply medical suspensions to participants in England Boxing.

Benefits for the boxers/clubs

• Will provide a safer environment for the boxer
• Each Boxer will have their own digital medical passport
• Lost BCR1s will no longer be an issue as medical data will be stored
• The boxer can share their medical records easily with their own GP or the boxing doctor without having to carry around the BCR1
• Creates a historical medical footprint, which athletes can take to any sport they move to
• The information cannot be amended once on the database, which allows transparency and creates a safer environment for boxers

Benefits for the Doctors

• All medical data will be recorded on the system to allow ease of reference
• Data is readily available to doctors wherever you are twenty-four hours a day as the module is web based
• Instantly able to know if a boxer is suspended, which safeguards both the boxer and the doctor
• The boxer cannot just get a ‘blank’ new BCR1 (medical card) as their medical footprint is stored electronically, which means data can be transferred to the new card
• Real time data is added to the module to aid the safety of the sport
• Allows the doctors to follow up on boxers’ cases if required

Benefits for England Boxing

• Allow analysis of data to make informed medical decisions around rules and the safety of the boxer
• May aid the growth of participation as the data shows that a boxing is a safer sport than others
• The system tracks every update and prevents data tampering
• When the doctor registers on the system, they will have the option to input their GMC number. This means when an athlete checks their medical records, they can see that their records are being accessed or changed by professionally verified doctors.

All doctors who are registered on the England Boxing Central Medical Database to carry out Boxing medical activities must use the medical module to continue their registration. The new medical module will be launched early in the 2019-20 season. We will be in touch with further information over the coming weeks about how the medical works and any additional information you may require.

Frequently asked questions

We wanted to answer some of the questions you may have regarding the medical module. Please see below.

• Will the boxer still need a BCR1? – Yes, the BCR1 will still be used and the doctor will input the data into the online medical module
• What if a medical takes places before the module is launched? – The doctor can take a picture or scan and upload into the system at a later date.
• Is the medical module GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) compliant? All athlete personal information and medical data is safely secured in our AWS (Amazon Web Services) data servers; which are end-to-end encrypted. Athlete data will only be available to EB doctors, and the according athlete. Other athletes, or coaches from other clubs will not be able to see this data.
• What happens when the boxer boxes abroad? – If an injury occurs abroad (outside of England), the athlete can give to the ringside Doctor a limited access (e.g. 2 hours) all the input of that doctor will be seen by EB Doctors in real time. Alternatively, any documents generated from the injury or incident can be uploaded to the Medicard Hub by the athlete.
• Who can access the data? – England Boxing doctors who are registered to the My Next Match system have primary access to only individual boxers medical data and no other information. The athlete also has the right to see their own medical data. Through the Application Programming Interface, which allows two systems to talk to each other, England Boxing administrators on The Vault will be able to see whether an athlete is Fit to Box or Not fit to Box, however, will not be able to see specific, personal medical data.
• Can a boxer still use their own doctor to complete a medical? – Yes, in the BCR1 the doctor must put their GMC number, surgery stamp, their own email address and telephone number, to enable England Boxing to contact them to authenticate the medical. The medical will be uploaded by England Boxing as part of the affiliation process.
• Will doctors charge more for medical services? – Doctors should not charge more for these services as it is for the safety of the boxers and sport. Should this happen please email enquiries@englandboxing.org with the details
• How much longer will the process take? – It should not no longer than a few minutes to log the details

Should you have any queries, please email englandboxingmedicalmodule@englandboxing.org