Secretly Recorded by GP

@LionME you can record them but I think if you approach any HCP this aggressively they might become wary of your motives or intentions. You can just discuss it with them politely.

I hope people do know a lot of HCP are employees and don’t make up the rules or invent the systems. Take up your beef with someone senior or the organisation rather than entering into conflict with your HCP who is trying to help with your health conditions - as they are employed to do.

@LionME do you really think you’d be the first? If you want to do it do it.
Do you hold the same energy for your insurance company, Amazon, the Asda online shopping helpline? Or let me guess, another poster that clearly just has a gripe with doctors (who generally are trying to help you and others) than anything sensible to add to the conversation.

Surely it's a given that calls are recorded.

Except that it is NOT a given that those calls are recorded. If you’ve read the thread, you’d have learnt why!

I mean, I think I’m going to record my GP consultations too. To protect myself because I’ve been gaslighted so often and notes don’t reflect what was said in the electronic records.
It will be ok right? I legally can do and don’t even have to tell the G so it’s all good.
And if it comes back to the GP, it destroys my relationship with them because they won’t trust me anymore, it’s ok too. They just have to get over it because they do it too 😁😁

Ask any HCP and see what they say about it and whether they’d feel comfortable about it.

@UPSETPATIENT You’ve been given people’s opinions and advised on routes of recourse over 14 pages now. You’ll never know unless you actually approach them and ask to discuss it. It’s starting to seem a little bit like a good old GP bashing thread.

I do agree with you OP that they have failed to inform you that calls are recorded and this is not ok. It should be transparent. There should be information given to patients to make them aware via the website and phone system

However no, a GP can’t just turn it on and off themselves as usually only very senior manager has access to the system and that just isn’t how it works telephony wise there isn’t a ‘stop recording’ button on the GP’s phone handset. The recordings are also usually only accessed at a top level if you want a copy of this you are entitled to it. Generally there are too many calls to listen to them all they are only retrieved in the instance of a problem or concern coming up.

All telephone calls to a GP surgery are recorded - consultations, the appointments line, enquiries and prescription requests. It’s standard practice.

"Against the law" would not be a civil matter, and would not be "frowned upon". It isn't against the law. It might not be permissible to use the recording eg as evidence in a civil action, but the mere act of recording is not against the law.

@SleepyRich it is against the law for the practice to record unless they have a policy like this in place which seems to cover all the points I can think of that are relevant: https://kingswinfordmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/surgery-information/policies/practice-call-recording-policy/

it is not against the law for a patient to record their own consultation as the information is personal to them and they are their own data handler.

It's not against the law. Best practice does ask that patients should be reminded when calls are recorded but absolutely no legal requirement to do so on each contact. If a clinician lied and said calls weren't recorded when they were this would be Just like it would not be breaking the law through you to record 'covertly' but it's just requested that you don't do so.

In reference to your prev reply though, each area can/will be different but in my area we have Paramedics 'specialising' in MH - partly because of this we all have opportunity to rotate through their service seeing patients/doing so home the home visits/checks. We are integrated into talking therapies (formally IAPT it was rebranded a few years back) and we all have access to comprehensive notes from the MH teams made during their consultations. It's needed because we'll see these patients ourselves via 111/999 and need the continuity to have a hope of doing so safely. They're not ringfenced separately any differently from a GP consultation on a sore throat.

When I worked in a private hospital, all phone calls were recorded including full pre-assessment questionnaires with patients, it’s something that is routinely done

You can find a link by your search engine. Mine is google. I am not sure what it is called now. I used to be a County Councillor and the Council then had one member on the Family Practitioner and I was that. I also sat on the Tribunals set up to listen to complaints.

I cannot tell you what the set up is now, but I do know that it is not all professionals, and you don't need a lawyer.

That is good news really. You just have to make sure you ticked all the boxes. If you only experience something once or twice a week, you still have to tick all the boxes because it is possible it can happen more than once or twice.

Those huge books of forms are marked by the ticks. I think it might be a school leaver's job. You cannot always tell how many times you experience whatever the question is, so no harm in ticking as many boxes as you can.

Make sure you put in all the medication and any aids you might need - splints etc. anything if you are physically disabled you can need. It helps to give in letters from health practitioners and relatives, friends who have to help you.

Cancer patients do not have to wait for a review.

I hope you are successful. It is your present condition that counts, not what you might have said and done in the past. I hope you get your help with costs, because I know first hand how difficult it is when you are disabled, whatever your disability.

Those calls won't be easily accessible. I've worked for a couple of companies who record calls and if I've needed to find one (normally because a customer has lied about something I've said) it's not something I can just grab, I have to email someone from our tech team with the number, date and time of the call. It's not something that someone will just come across - especially in the NHS when they can check who has accessed particular files.
I'm shocked your surgery doesn't have it stating calls are recorded though. Ours does and I take it to mean all calls, not just ones to the receptionists.

There is a group on Facebook which is for complaints against the NHS. You might find there are people on that group who have also had this issue and can tell you how they faired.

There are also many solicitors whose sole interest is in issues with the NHS and all aspects of it. They are in prime position to advise you.

There are also Associations like Scope and Mind who can give you the advice of their experiences, or you can go on their chat and discuss it with people who are suffering the same thing.

They will all have a better understanding than me, who can only give an opinion, as are many who have responded on here and have tried to help you.

You can do that via the Family Practitioner Committee, or whatever it is now called. They can advise you.

Were you successful in your application for PIP?

The patient is also allowed to refuse it. Just like you can refuse to have a med student there.

As the OP is quite she doesn’t want a telephone appointment to be recorded, I doubt she was told about it! She’d have said NO don’t you think??