Important Information Before Your ENG1 Seafarer Medical
Please read this notice in full before your appointment. It explains what to bring, what the examination involves, what it costs, and what happens if I cannot reach a decision on the day. Following it will give you the best chance of leaving with a certificate.
1. What you must bring
Photographic identification (mandatory). I am required to check your identity before I can examine you. You must bring one original, valid, in-date document from this list:
- passport
- photocard driving licence
- national identity card or citizen card
- seafarer's discharge book / seafarer identity document
- Photocopies, photographs of documents and expired documents are not acceptable. Without acceptable ID I cannot carry out the examination.
- Your previous ENG1 certificate, if this is not your first seafarer medical. Please bring the original paper certificate (or your equivalent overseas certificate). Superseded ENG1 certificates are withdrawn, scanned to the MCA's Approved Doctors Information System and then securely destroyed — so you should not expect it back. If you cannot produce it, tell me at the start of the appointment. I will normally still be able to proceed, but I am required to record the position and I may need to verify your history with the MCA, which can delay your certificate.
Also bring:
- all medication you are taking (or a current, printed repeat prescription list)
your glasses or contact lenses, and your spares, plus your optical prescription if you have it
- your hearing aids, if you use them
- the name, address and telephone number of your GP
- any letters, clinic notes, discharge summaries or test results from your GP, a hospital or a consultant — particularly anything from the last two years
- any previous ENG3 (Notice of Failure/Restriction), restriction letter or CAD colour vision certificate you have been given
2. You must tell me about your medical history — in full
You will sign a declaration that the information you have given is correct.
You must tell me if you have ever:
- failed an ENG1 examination
- been issued with an ENG1 carrying a restriction
- started an ENG1 examination with another Approved Doctor and not completed it
Withholding this is known as "doctor shopping". It can invalidate your certificate, and obtaining a certificate under false pretences is a criminal offence under fraud legislation.
You must also tell me about any significant medical condition you have and any treatment you are currently receiving.
3. What the examination involves
Please note that I (Dr. Adeola Buluro) am a male doctor. I or a member of the clinical team will:
- take your medical history
- measure your height, weight and blood pressure
- ask you to provide a urine sample
- test your hearing, distance vision, near vision and colour vision
- carry out a physical examination
You will be asked to undress to your underwear for part of the examination. You will be given privacy to undress, you will only be undressed for as long as is necessary, and you are welcome to have a chaperone — please ask, and I will arrange one. You may also bring a friend or relative.
Language. I cannot carry out the examination unless we can communicate directly in English. If that is not possible, you must bring an interpreter with you. Please tell us when booking.
Fitness to be examined. If you attend in a state that makes examination unsafe or unreliable — for example under the influence of alcohol — I may have to refuse to proceed. I am required to record this and inform the MCA.
Leaving part-way through. If you leave before the examination is complete, I am required to inform the MCA and to tell you that I have done so.
4. Urine sample and menstruation
A urine sample is a required part of the examination. Blood in the sample — including blood from menstruation — can produce an abnormal result that cannot be interpreted, and may lead to unnecessary further investigation or delay in issuing your certificate.
If you are menstruating on the day of your appointment, you have two options:
Attend as planned. Please tell me at the start. In most cases I can complete everything else and either repeat the urine test at the end of the visit at no extra charge.
Rearrange. If you would prefer to move your appointment, contact us as far in advance as you can. Where the reason is menstruation, the appointment will be rearranged without charge, even inside the normal cancellation period.
Please do not simply not turn up as the consultation will go ahead and be charged or stil be charged even if you are absent and do not contact us.
5. Cost
The examination fee is £115. It covers the consultation, the examination and the issue of your certificate.
Additional tests. A small number of candidates need an extra test — for example an exercise/step test, or a CAD colour vision test at an MCA-approved test centre.
Where an extra test is needed, I will tell you before it is carried out
the cost will be agreed in advance with whoever is paying for your medical. CAD tests are booked and paid for directly with the test centre, not with this clinic.
Payment is due on the day and is not dependent on the outcome. The fee pays for the examination, not for a particular result.
Cancellations and missed appointments. Please give at least 48 hours notice if you need to cancel or rearrange. Refunds are available for services cancelled at least 24 hours before the scheduled appointment. Cancellations within 24 hours of your appointment will incur a £100 cancellation fee, except in cases of medical emergency or at our discretion. It will cost £50 to re-schedule an appointment on the day.
6. Preparing well — why it matters
I make my assessment on the evidence available at the appointment. If a relevant report is missing, I may not be able to complete your assessment that day.
Before you attend, please:
- request copies of any consultant letters, test results or GP summaries now — practices can take up to a month
- bring paper copies or have them accessible on your phone
- if you have a condition such as diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, a mental health condition, sleep apnoea, or you have had surgery in the last two years, bring the most recent specialist letter and evidence that your condition is stable and being monitored
7. Your result
At the end of the examination I will issue one of the following:
Category 1 — fit for sea service, no restrictions
Category 2 — fit, but with restrictions written on the certificate
Category 3 — temporarily unfit, for a period I will specify
Category 4 — permanently unfit
Most candidates receive their certificate on the day. Certificates are valid for a maximum of two years (one year if you are under 18), or less if there is a medical reason.
If I cannot complete my assessment on the day.
If I have concerns about your fitness and need further medical information, a specialist opinion, or advice from the MCA's Chief Medical Adviser, I will not issue an ENG1 that day. Where a delay is likely, I will issue a Category 3 (temporarily unfit) certificate covering the period needed to obtain the information. This is a normal part of the process and is provided for in MCA guidance — it is not a failure.
I will tell you clearly at the appointment:
- exactly what information I need
- how to send it to me
- whether a further appointment is required and, if so, whether a further fee applies
- Sending documents afterwards. Please send them by email to medsupport@yourexcellenthealth.org. Because of clinic demand I cannot guarantee to review unsolicited documents at short notice; I will tell you at your appointment what the arrangement will be in your case.
If further review of additional documents or information is needed, you may email these to me, but you must also book an "ENG1 Follow Up Appointment" online. Due to clinic demand, I am unable to review documents sent by email unless time has been booked.
If you are found unfit or restricted, I will issue an ENG3 (Notice of Failure/Restriction) and explain my reasons. You have the right to apply to the MCA for an independent review by a medical referee if you are found permanently unfit, temporarily unfit for more than three months, or fit only with restrictions. You must apply within one month of the date on your ENG3. The MCA pays for the review; you pay your own travel costs.
8. Your certificate
Your ENG1 is your property. You must carry it on the ship on which you work.
Certificates are normally handed to you in person on the day. If you would like yours posted instead, we can send it by tracked post to a UK address for £17, payable prior to postage. This is optional.
If your certificate is later lost or damaged, contact me — I may be able to issue a replacement for the remaining period of validity, for which an administrative charge of £20 applies. If a long time has passed, a fresh examination and the full statutory fee may be required.
9. After your medical — your ongoing duty
You must contact an Approved Doctor if, at any time while your certificate is valid:
- you are absent from work for 30 days or more for a medical reason, or
- you develop a medical condition that may affect your fitness to work at sea
- Your certificate is suspended from that point until you have been assessed.
This notice summarises MCA requirements set out in MSN 1886 (M+F) Amendment 3, MSN 1887 (M) Amendment 1, the Approved Doctor's Manual and the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018. Where this notice and MCA guidance differ, MCA guidance applies.