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Original poster

NHS medical records app - shocked by what I've seen

108 replies

InShockAndWorried · 06/09/2023 17:07

So I've been delving into historic documents on my nhs medical records app

Filed away dated in 2016 is an urgent gynae cancer 2 week referral letter - my name address phone number are is on the form but none of the reasons for referral had been ticked

IM IN SHOCK I know absolutely nothing about this! I'm wracking my brains and honestly am sure I'd remember something like this - there aren't any corresponding appointments detail records noted around that time on my app records.

I'm somewhat panicking - wtaf!!

OP posts:
rileynexttime · 06/09/2023 22:03

Bloody hell @menopausalbloat , I'd mind that an awful lot.

ShadyPaws · 06/09/2023 22:07

Mine said I have asthma. I don't, I had an inhaler once when I had pneumonia
They kept sending me asthma reviews and said they couldn't remove it
I went to an asthma review to find a confused nurse who did my peak flow and said "you don't have asthma"
Yes, exactly, can we remove it now?!

WhatWouldMrMannersSay · 06/09/2023 22:11

It has possibly auto-generated the form due to some other reason, but nothing happens with the form unless boxes are ticked to move it to the referral stage. No boxes ticked = no referral, but the empty form has just remained on your records.

That would be my guess!

Topseyt123 · 06/09/2023 22:15

I find it surprising that they can't just remove some of these irregularities, once it has become clear beyond any reasonable doubt that they are mistakes.

Seychal · 06/09/2023 22:17

About 12 years ago my GP probed into the reason I had been sectioned under some Mental Health Act. Complete news to me!

ALongHardWinter · 06/09/2023 22:17

Can you tell me which app this is OP?

ClusterFukt · 06/09/2023 22:21

Mine say I had Kawasaki’s disease as a child. I didn’t.

Tistheseason17 · 06/09/2023 22:22

Human errors happen. You can and should ask for corrections to your record. If they won't remove it e.g. the error happened at a previous surgery so the current one cannot prove the error - you can add a statement for the entry or you'll need to contact the previous gp surgery.
Whatever you decide, please can you hang on til we've sorted all the flu and covid vacs and all the winter pressure issues with a depleted workforce? Think its hard getting an appointment now- it will be even harder if the doctors are spending time rectifying records instead of seeing patients... admin aren't allowed to simply delete elements of your medical record without clinician input.

purpleme12 · 06/09/2023 22:22

porridgecake · 06/09/2023 21:59

I have been trying to get the mistakes and wrong information in my GP records corrected for years. My sister is furious because it is documented in her records that she is an alcoholic. She isn't.
This became an issue for me when my travel insurers checked my GP records and accused me of not declaring a pre-existing condition.
IME the GP surgery do not care and are not interested.
It is a case of blind faith in the computer and the digital coding system (that could have been updated by anyone).

Yes this is exactly what I worry about! Them having it wrong somewhere and travel insurance/life insurance then believe it!!

doroda · 06/09/2023 22:25

Mine said I'd had operations on my eyes as a child. Definitely didn't

JetBlackSteed · 06/09/2023 22:43

I attend my GP practice every quarter for a B12 injection, have done for a lot of years. Contacted them recently to make the next appointment to be told I have moved away from the catchment area and my registration with that GP has been closed.
I laughed out loud at the absurdity of it, and the receptionist made the appointment for me.
Turned up and the nurse giving the injection notices that my records are closed. She said it happens all the time. She sorted it somehow, and I received two letters in the post (a week apart) advising that I was now registered with x GP, subject to residency and other checks. I've lived here for 50 years.
Any wonder the NHS has no money? It's incompetent.

crackfoxy · 06/09/2023 22:47

Tistheseason17 · 06/09/2023 22:22

Human errors happen. You can and should ask for corrections to your record. If they won't remove it e.g. the error happened at a previous surgery so the current one cannot prove the error - you can add a statement for the entry or you'll need to contact the previous gp surgery.
Whatever you decide, please can you hang on til we've sorted all the flu and covid vacs and all the winter pressure issues with a depleted workforce? Think its hard getting an appointment now- it will be even harder if the doctors are spending time rectifying records instead of seeing patients... admin aren't allowed to simply delete elements of your medical record without clinician input.

Yup, this. And please don't book an appointment with the GP, say it's personal to then discuss something on your record from 1998 that you don't agree with.
Thanks!

Riverlee · 06/09/2023 22:52

Hope yog’re getting answers.

porridgecake · 06/09/2023 22:52

"Yup, this. And please don't book an appointment with the GP, say it's personal to then discuss something on your record from 1998 that you don't agree with.
Thanks!"

My surgery will not even discuss this with me unless I book a face to face appointment. I don't want to waste the GP's time, but I am in a standoff with my travel insurers and they want lots of extra money to cover a condition I do not have. If I want insurance cover I have to pretend the records are accurate and pay up. If I end up in hospital abroad, they will think I have a condition I don't have.
These are not trivial errors.

Tistheseason17 · 06/09/2023 22:56

@crackfoxy 🤣🤣🤣
Dark humour keeps me going! And love helping despite what loads of MN posters think.
Less funding? ✔️
Not enough qualified GPs? ✔️
Daily verbal abuse? ✔️
Passionate in helping others despite the above? Yep ✔️ fully signed up!

Tonight1 · 06/09/2023 23:17

I keep getting invited to operations I don't need. It was a complete surprise to me that apparently my spine needs operating on.

Medical records are shit.

NutellaNut · 06/09/2023 23:35

I saw something similar on my NHS record (on app) which said I’d had cancer a few years ago - something I’ve never had! I queried it with the GP surgery and they just said “Oh sorry, it must be a mistake.” There are probably mistakes on hundreds if not thousands of people’s NHS records - possibly when notes were transcribed onto a computer from original paper records.

Tilllly · 06/09/2023 23:39

Infuriatingly, it took me several emails, letters and calls to get them to stop ringing my husband about my appointments

GP, 2 different hospitals... it should've been down as my next of kin not my contact number
Horrible breach of confidentiality

Oh and I have allergies to meds I've never taken
Nothing gets that off my record

Gloschick · 07/09/2023 00:10

If a GP wants to look at a 2ww form whilst they have the patients file open eg to check if the patient qualifies, then the form will autopopulate with the patient details. You then have to "mark in error" if you decide the referral is not needed. I imagine this might have happened in your case but they forgot to mark it in error.

JenniferBooth · 07/09/2023 00:20

The minimization and please can you wait till its convienient is not a good look.

JenniferBooth · 07/09/2023 00:26

People should not be expected to go "oh thats ok dont worry about it" when they are down as a bloody alcoholic when they arent Jesus wept!

NHSKNOW · 07/09/2023 03:13

From October 31st GP practices are required by contract to give patients access to their prospective records. This means any new information from a certain date. Practice have the option for this to be done in bulk but they are able to miss this date and do it manually. There is no such stipulation for historical records. If you wish to have historical access you will still need to ask the practice for this. They do have a duty to provide this information to you unless there are specific safeguarding issues. As for older records on your access, for a long time medical records were in paper form. When everything started being recorded electronically. In order to get the paper records on to the electronic record this all needed to be input manually so a lot of practices put the bare minimum on there to make sure a record was saved. A lot of practice just put a year for the problem/consultation which is understandable, if you have a practice with 20000+ patients it’s a lot of work to add the historical paper notes for each patient.
With regards to incorrect notes being on your record you need to raise this issue on the practice. If it is found to be an entry that belongs to someone else they are allowed to get the entry removed from your record. But it is not a simple process… your medical record is a legal document so removing a record is a big deal

Just to clarify:
Anyone can request online access to their records, both historical and prospective.

The practice is not allowed to refuse unless there are specific reasons ef safeguarding and they have to be able to explain this to you

From October 31st 2023 every patient should have prospective access to their records. If you don’t you can request it

Lastly, practice staff are extremely busy and do a lot more than just sitting answering telephones. They are human, they may make mistakes. However, always been kind, so not take your anger or frustration out on them, They don’t make the practices policies or rules, they are just doing their job

Ohmylovejune · 07/09/2023 03:41

I had some worrying symptoms, felt awful but the blood tests came back no infection. They used the "2 week pathway" to get a bunch of tests done "to rule out sinister possibilities fast ". That's how it was described to me. I only found out what a 2 week pathway was when I got home and searched the Internet.

Might they have used different language with you too?

JMAngel1 · 07/09/2023 04:05

But do we really think GP practices have the capacity to investigate and action any necessary amendments? Surely actual standards of care would fall when they they haven’t got much further to fall!

AbbeyGailsParty · 07/09/2023 04:15

If as @NHSKNOW says NHS records are a legal document then they need to be accurate.
Yes human error happens but so many errors in just 40-ish replies, must be multiplied by thousands.