Secretly Recorded by GP

I actually asked my GP practice when I was dropping off a letter from my consultant. They seemed shocked that anyone would even think that consultations are recorded. They said that calls to reception are recorded, SOME calls from reception are recorded and it is announced as soon as the call is connected, but medical consultations are never recorded.

@UPSETPATIENT It might be different where you are, but where I am (Scotland) you have to be registered with a GP if you ever need to access physio, podiatry, equipment in the community, as it’s financed via the GP. You of course do not need to attend or engage with them, but certainly at my work you would need to be registered with one if you need to access these kind of services.

I think op does have a valid point, she wasn't told and it was an unexpected call, and the notes don't reflect the conversation.

I get this a lot, more so with hospitals. When I do ask for a copy of the phone conversation, compared to notes that misrepresent things or claim I said things I didn't, eventually they back down.

I thought all gp calls are recorded. It says that when you call.

I think you should think very carefully before you leave your present practice and find another one. Your GP at least knows you, even though you don't like what has happened, and you need that sort of continuity and you will recover the trust in them eventually. You now know they record, so you can watch what you say when you consult them. A new practice would have you worried and stressed out, and you may not get a better service.

At the moment you are traumatised. You want it all to go away and start afresh, but that is not as easy to do as it sounds, It isn't just the GP practice you have to find. What will you tell another GP if they want to know why? You cannot say change of address.

Bear in mind also that your notes are not necessarily sent to the new GP. They may be sent to the Family Practitioner department and it could be some time before they end up with your new GP. That may make things very awkward for you because you would have to go through your medical history all over again.

There is also the point that most practices are full to overflowing, and you may have to settle for one further away, which would cost you more money than you can afford to pay. Some GPs do not make house calls either. If yours's does, you will be well advised to stick with him and patch things up. You may find that he has already done that, and will not treat you badly.

You just cannot afford to be stressed any more than you are now. Your health will undoubtedly go down. You could try a thread on here asking for people who have changed GPs and if it was difficult, before you go down that road.

🙄🙄🙄

OP do you have a health professional you can trust to talk to about changing GP?

Whatever the circumstances surrounding your mental health and your PIP claim, it is likely that you will need GP care. If you have strong concerns around your privacy, it may be possible to ask your current or next surgery what could be put in place that you would agree to.

Yes. Absolutely do this. A good practice, as per the link I shared earlier, will support this. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable. I would imagine healthcare is very difficult without a GP. You’ve had a hard time on here and I absolutely agree with you but don’t lose out on primary healthcare when there is a work around. Good luck!

You could just ask for face to face appointments rather than telephone appointments and not put yourself at risk of having no GP.

Wow. Well ok fair enough.

So what happens if you can't find a single local GP surgery that doesn't record phone calls? You just won't have a GP?
Why make life so difficult for yourself?
Now that you know all calls are recorded, surely you can just keep phone calls to a minimum now with minimal sensitive info and save that for the face to face meetings?

I feel like you don’t want to listen. If you have a right go at a nurse for instance for recording a call, she didn’t do that herself, it’s her employer who bought the call system and activated it and that HCP has no way of turning it off. Don’t waste your time and that of HCP complaining to the wrong person. If you want to record a consultation, POLITELY let them know which is the right way to go about it. You can raise an issue without being rude, abrasive or conflictual. You can find out the right person to raise your concerns with.

I honestly wouldn’t give two hoots. Likewise as well as being an HCP I am also a patient, and I would (don’t) give two hoots that I would have been recorded as a patient at my practice.

All calls are recorded at our practice, so reception up to partners, with all manner of HCPs in between are recorded, and have no issue with it.

You don’t need to request to be de registered, you simply need to register at another practice. The process usually takes a few days, but it’s fairly straight forward and all your electronic medical records get transferred over to your new practice as soon as they complete the registration. Make sure you have enough of any repeat meds, as when you switch your repeats will stop until they’re authorised by your new practice (we have an in house pharmacy team who deal with new patient medication reviews, we advise having a month’s worth of any meds when you register with us so you’re not left short until we can get you in with a pharmacist)

Telling your practice you want to de register is the medical version of doing a flounce - you just need to get a new GP lined up and register with them yourself.

Are you going to check with your new practice if they record calls? Will you not register if they do?

You see? You all have a problem with me recording the GP without telling them!!

And yet the OP is supposed to suck it up.

Youre both proving my point perfectly. It’s not normal and it’s extremely annoying /unsettling for GPs to do that for many reasons.
The fact GP are (mostly) trying their best nor the fact they are ‘just’ employees is not here, nor there. We’re talking systems here. Not about individuals. It’s not a oerson al attack against a certain group. It’s about respect, building trust between patient and practitioners and following rules.

But the fact you’re automatically thinking I’m the one being aggressive, trying to prove a point just confirms that it’s ok to feel that way when the roles are reversed (and GP are secretly recording consultations which is illegal fir them to do)