GP Medical Records Wrong

unforeseen

I don't think you will be able to get it completely removed. The PDF below from Royal Marsden gives some more info

Royal Marsden Info

[Deleted User]

Yes I did say in the above post that I realise I can't get the diagnosis removed. I only realise this thanks to the responses on here. You always think you can get errors corrected but it seems not.

theoretica

I suspect that doctors are actually quite used to wrong diagnoses being made and can help ensure this one stops affecting you. In my family alone there have been several cases of a condition called one thing for years and then a new test or consultant realises it is actually something else. Or a simple case of thinking something was a severe sprain but later discovering it was broken. The fact it was at the time thought by someone to be a sprain remains on record.

jenniewb

deannatrois wrote: »

Yes I did say in the above post that I realise I can't get the diagnosis removed. I only realise this thanks to the responses on here. You always think you can get errors corrected but it seems not.

You can indeed get things corrected -I have been told this by someone very well informed.


Also, in the past I was able to get something deleted (a misdiagnosis) when I by chance was reading through the list of various problems I'd experienced in my GP's surgery.
One diagnosis on the list (a specific psychiatric disorder which I had never been assessed for let alone spoken to about) I disagreed with it and asked who/where it was diagnosed, the GP told me they did not know and could and would delete it if I did not agree with it.


It could be they lied to me but I was under the impression it was deleted from their files just like that. (I have though no idea where else the wrong diagnosis may be in addition though).
To be honest it was a wrong diagnosis and carried no weight, it just confused things and confused additional issues I was experiencing hence why I requested it taken off. But it sounds like (OP) you'd be looking more for an apology and explanation- my issue had no real affect on me other than pride and potential concern over future treatment, but your issue sounds a lot more serious.

[Deleted User]

Sorry if I gave the wrong idea. Not looking for an apology. I am a bit mystified as to how the 'diagnosis' could have been thought appropriate and rather concerned that this has been going out on every referral for 20 plus years. I'd like it removed.

Spoke to GP today (not the GP practice that put the 'diagnosis' on my records). He said he can't remove the diagnosis, but he can 'downgrade' it so it doesn't appear on any more referral letters. He said (voluntarily) I had a right to see my notes if I wanted to but I'd have to pay photocopying costs which could be quite high.

I suppose I will have to settle for that. He said a GP or a mental health professional could have put the diagnosis on my records. As I wasn't receiving any mental health care in 1993, it must have been a GP. Goodness knows why. I just don't see how I could ever have been thought to have fitted the criteria but I guess I will never know why. I might pursue if I can get it removed (getting records to identify who put it on there when I've got a bit less going on and more money).

elsien

There is a maximum charge if you want to make a subject access request.

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2635.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=160

In your situation, if I could afford it, I'd be wanting to have a proper look about what had been written about me before deciding on the next step.

jenniewb

So it's likely a GP "diagnosed" you? That is really not OK!
Unless your GP was a practicing Psychiatrist they were neither qualified or required to diagnose something like what you have described It is also my understanding that to diagnose something like a personality disorder, a very drawn out assessment would be required and as you have had no diagnosis, it would be interesting if not very telling to find out who or how the diagnosis got there if that does interest you.


A personality disorder, for those that are reading this and wondering what the fuss is all about, carries a lot of social stigma. They shouldn't do, but they do and it is well known that they do. For a Doctor of any standing to diagnose, wrongly or rightly and not tell you, this just isn't OK and if you have evidence that it has negatively affected you and your children, then I'd suggest taking it further if you feel upset or angry with what has happened. But I am not you and my aims and issues would likely be different to yours, make sure you go with your own head and not my thoughts dictating anything!


I wasn't sure what you had been looking for by the way- I was just putting myself in your shoes (not that I'm going to get that right!) but it may help you work out how far to take things -if you choose to, if you take time to think to yourself, photocopy money and time aside, what is it you'd ideally like as a result of going through things. If you want to discuss it with anyone- eg what is/is not possible, that's what PALs is for and you can contact them at any point.


To be honest, I'd ignore the photo copy fees, go straight to PALS, Reach or Mind and see if they can get around this, it does not and should not cost an excessive amount to use a photo copier and I'd ask what they thought about this! I could understand if you were just wanting your notes to read on an afternoon because you'd run out of good reading literature, but your needs are a bit more serious than this and I'd have hoped they'd be on your side trying to get to the bottom of this with you rather than expecting you to foot the bills for their photocopier fee.

[Deleted User]

deannatrois wrote: »

Spoke to GP today (not the GP practice that put the 'diagnosis' on my records). He said he can't remove the diagnosis, but he can 'downgrade' it so it doesn't appear on any more referral letters.

I notice the word 'can' and not will. I refer you to my link to the Mary Kerswell case above. She had been told that her records would be corrected, it was only after she insisted on seeing a copy to prove it that they had her taken away in handcuffs by the police.

My complaint relates to cardiology lying, and denying that I had been taken to A&E and diagnosed with a heart condition when they knew that I had. Each attempt by me to tell A&E what was going on was met with cardiology placing more copies of the denial letter in my records. Promises to place corrections in your records are worthless.

deannatrois wrote: »

He said (voluntarily) I had a right to see my notes if I wanted to but I'd have to pay photocopying costs which could be quite high.

From the Handbook to the NHS Constitution:

"You have the right to see your health records. Ask your health professional in writing if you would like to see them. There are limited exceptions to this right. The main kind of circumstances where information may be withheld are where the information includes details about another person such as a family member and it is not clear whether you already know this information or where some of the information may be seriously harmful to you, for example, where serious mental illness means you may be a risk to yourself."

The point is that they are the sole arbiters of what is in your interests, with no right of appeal to any independent body, so you have to take their word that they aren't withholding documents in their own insterests. When I appealed to the Information Commission about a bowel surgery report that is being withheld, they told me that they "...must take the Trust's response in good faith and, as a Regulator, we do not have the power to enter and search premises to check..."

After I wrote back saying "You tell me that you have no powers to enter and search, but there are several pages on your website congratulating yourselves on successful raids of data controllers' premises"

they replied "the raids referred to on our website were in relation to criminal matters.......this is not the case with your concern"

It is interesting to wonder whether medical records are subject to the libel laws, but I suspect that they aren't. Last year Scotland Yard started investigating the Health Ombudsman on 30 counts of Misconduct in Public Office for failing to investigate complaints properly. They had to abandon the case because legislation puts the Ombudsman above the law, and the police had no powers to seize the Ombudsman's documentation.