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requesting medical records

Battle BunnyBattle Bunny
edited November 2011 in Chit chat
Has anyone tried submitting a formal Subject Access Request under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 for a copy of their medical records? I was wondering how long it took to get them, in what form they were supplied, and how much it cost (it's supposed to be between ?10-?50). Or did the hospital or GP use the "it's too much trouble so we'll say that it may cause serious harm to your physical or mental health" get-out clause? I've tried submitting informal requests via telephone calls or letters to the consultant's or GP's secretary and got nowhere.
Post edited by Battle Bunny on

Comments

  • Bermondsey BobBermondsey Bob
    edited November 2011
    I asked for a copy of my medication etc from my GP once. As I've said on here before, I'm at stage 5 renal faliure and am on dialysis 3 times a week. Some dialysis patience are entitled to GP's report. I requested mine to find out what it said and i was shocked at just how wrong it was!

    They had me listed at stage 3 renal failure (I've not been stage 3 for years) and most of my medication was missing from the print out. Not only that, but I hadn't taken some of what was listed for years! So I wasn't impressed at all. If the benifit people (or work for that matter) had contacted my GP, they would have been given totally the wrong information1

    So I'd say go for it. Not only are youy entitled to see what's on your records, it may be woth a check to see if every thing is correct ;-)
  • milemile
    edited November 2011
    next time your seeing your GP, ask him to see them. if he is worth anything he will sit down with you and go through them with you, explaining the bits you might not understand, discussing your worries.

    thats what they are their for

    otherwise write a letter to your gp requesting them.

    expect it to take about 28 days, as they have to go somewhere to be photocopied etc. (28 days is there target, so could be sooner)

    not sure about cost, its not that much, about a tenner, if that, (some do it free)

    i saw mine once, nothing really special about them, no secret letters saying i was a prick :p

    the worst job i ever had at work was going through child health records, i spent a whole week stuck in a tiny room going through all these 'special' kids problems, it was really sad as you'd read the health visitors talking kindly about them and how they were really nice, and you'd get the the very end and the kid had died.

    the worst records we ever saw was in fact dentist health records, the surgery had been broken into so we had to mannually copy down everyone name and adress to write to them. for some really odd reason a lot of them had personal notes written on the front and always nasty, like 'she stuffs any garbage into her mouth' 'too fat for chair' etc. the dentist got in trouble for that.

    remember don't bother ringing on the 30th. :-P
  • thx1138thx1138
    edited November 2011
    http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_family/health_index_ew/nhs_patients_rights.htm#Accesstomedicalreportsandhealthrecords

    until relatively recently GPs could decide if you could see your records, now, on the whole they cannot, they have to let you.

    Generally, I believe that there is a small charge, for a summary, and a higher charge for a comprehensive list that includes every inocculation, operation etc
  • Battle BunnyBattle Bunny
    edited November 2011
    I need the information for a medical tribunal. Over the last three years I've had dozens of visits to six different hospitals under two different NHS trusts, plus numerous consultations with three different local GPs, and I've lost track of everything that's happened, so I need a comprehensive hard copy summary for that period. I wrote to the hospital I've been to most often, plus my local GP, a couple of weeks ago. I'll give them another couple of weeks to see if anything turns up, after which I'll write to the relevant health records managers and put in a formal SAR quoting the DPA. Unless I get a cancellation the hearing won't be until March/April next year so I've still got plenty of time.
  • ZnorXmanZnorXman
    edited November 2011
    Battle Bunny wrote: »
    ...the hearing won't be until March/April next year so I've still got plenty of time.

    Careful ... famous last words when it comes to bureaucracy of this sort, i.e. the GP you're communicating with, his office can easily give you the run-around for ever and ever and ever, etc, etc, near ad infinitum and such.

    Not that I have ever had a bad experience with bureaucracy... (read: Put the screws to them now!)
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