Medical Records

[Noseynoseynosey]

Apologies if I’ve not posted this in the right place….
Does anyone who works/has worked in the NHS know what (if any) procedures/records were in place approximately 20 years ago that would show which NHS staff had accessed medical records? It is probably all logged on computer now but would it have been back then?

not at my trust, no

20 years ago it would depend what you wanted to look at.

You don't have one record but lots of records held by the organisations you have dealt with.

Practically no hospitals had computerised records 20 years ago. GP records were digital but when you look at old notes they are pretty minimal compared to what gets recorded now.

That would depend on the Trust and which services within it already had electronic records by that point in time.
You'll have to contact the service directly which you're enquiring about eg GP practice, maternity ward, outpatient clinic and ask the question

I think my hospital trust destroys records of over 8 years so there would be no evidence of anything left.

Ah yes that's a point, records get destroyed after 7 years unless mental health (and maybe maternity too)
But they may still have trail of access if electronic at that point and if they had the ability to gather that information back then. Debatable whether they would keep it that long

Back when most notes were paper (much more recent than most think for hospitals!) there would be no way to tell who has accessed them as it would be a case of reading the papers, presuming they were physically able to access them.

Even if your GP record was electronic at the time, it’s highly likely they would have changed computer systems and will now be unable to access data about who has viewed your record.

GP records are kept much longer than hospital records, from birth-death and then for 10-20 years after that. Obviously your records may not be complete if there had ever been any damage/poor record making.

If you have a specific concern about a particular staff member inappropriately accessing your records, you can make a complaint, but if they don’t work there anymore, I’m not sure it would be worthwhile.

@Pastaf0rbreakfast I do have a complaint and they do still work there but without any actual evidence I’m not sure what I can do

The trust I worked for has changed their computer system twice in the 21 years I've worked there.

In this case I would still make the complaint @Noseynoseynosey its not your job to find the evidence, if you have a suspicion, then make a complaint and it will be down to the trust/gp to investigate.

It is illegal to inappropriately access medical records and should be taken seriously.