How do I access my medical records

andygb

I don't really know which section to post this in, so thought I would put it here.
I need to access my medical records in order to see if they are complete.
Although this may sound bizarre, I changed GP's about five years ago, and I am currently receiving treatment for a couple of serious conditions.
I won't go into detail, but the most serious condition was diagnosed about 12 years ago, yet my current GP seems to think that my records from that period are incomplete.
I am very concerned, because my records from that time should have been overflowing with appointments and referrals to specialists.
So, can anyone please advise me how to go about sourcing my medical records.
Cheers.

djtonyb

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?categoryid=68

Gives all the answers

andygb

djtonyb wrote: »

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?categoryid=68

Gives all the answers

Thanks, that is exactly what I want:beer:

GlasweJen

You can ask your GP to let you view them, they can withold anything that might be unhelpful to your treatment but just wanting reassurance that everything is in there shouldnt be unreasonable.

Indie_Kid

I did this a few years ago. I was told to write to the practise manager and had to pay £10 for it.

[Deleted User]

Bear in mind that you have no right to access your records if they don't want you to see them, and if you do gain access and find an error:

Because medical records are a record of your clinician's opinion and actions in relation to your healthcare at the time, it is not possible for you to delete or change anything included in your records.

When Mary Kerswell found errors in her records, and insisted that they be corrected, the doctor had her taken away in handcuffs by the police, and struck her off the list.

andygb wrote: »

Although this may sound bizarre, ...... my current GP seems to think that my records from that period are incomplete.

Not at all, when I was in hospital last August I noticed that my records said that I had already had my heart operation when I hadn't. For the reasons above, a week of my repeatedly telling them about the error made no difference at all.

GlasweJen

My dads medical records had my appendectomy and some of my gynae information in them. We only noticed when he was in hospital with an appendix about to rupture and the surgeon was standing at the end of his bed saying "Mr X your records indicate that you had your appendix removed in May 2003 and the surgeons had to remove an ovary - oh wait no that can't be right".

Me and dad share a birthday and surname (as I changed my name to my step dads) so our CHI numbers are almost identical and that's what caused the mix up.

Newlyboughthouse

It's actually a contractual NHS requirement from 1st April 2015 onwards to allow patients online access to minimum medication and allergies. By next year surgeries have to allow access to all 'coded' information e.g. asthma, diabetes, major operations etc (not free text). Might be worth asking your GP for online access. Totally free.

Errata

^^^^^ Do you have a link to this?

lurke

I don't have a link, but the above is very much correct. If you are registered at your practice for online services (SystmOnline, EMIS Web etc) to book appointments, order prescriptions online, then you will see additional functionality. If you are not, you will need to request details from the receptionists.

Newlyboughthouse

http://www.patient.co.uk/patient-access