What is this all about

[Andthatwasthatshesaid]

Can anyone give any advice please.
I have a long standing mental health condition. I also have physical health problems and have been to hospital quite a lot this past year.

Long story short: on my notes it says that I have substance abuse and tobacco abuse.
I do not smoke and aside from being prescribed Diazapam for severe anxiety, I have no other medication that I am regularly prescribed.

I have spoke to both the hospital and the GP surgery and asked why this is at the front of my notes. Both say to speak to the other and I go round in circles.

Recently , I attended A and E and on discharge , the letter said ( Denies substance abuse/ tobacco abuse ). Yet I have never ever been asked about this at any hospital visits.

None of it makes sense and to be honest it’s stressing me out. Can anyone help me understand this please.

Have you smoked in the past? I did smoke, only about 10 a day, and used to drink maybe every other night or less but stopped around Dec/Jan. I've been diagnosed with B12 deficiency and one of the first tags on a lot of studies is "alcoholism" as it is common in alcoholics. I know I wasn't one but do wonder if I am being judged as a drinker in much the same way as you feel OP. I am currently waiting to see a specialist for a clinical diagnosis that when I google can be life threatening - its taken since mid May to even talk to a Dr! I do know the waiting lists are huge and think perhaps it's my brain trying to find reasons why they aren't treating my condition (oh she's probably an alcoholic) so it can be hard not to feel a bit paranoid when they might think it was self inflicted. It's a bit like having anxiety - once it's on your records they'll tell you everything is that (I was told a pulmonary embolism was all in my head because I have had anxiety - which ironically is a main symptom of my new clinical diagnosis). You can go around in circles, annoyingly.

I would make a formal complaint about this with your hospital (they should have a complaints page) and ask for this to be removed from your notes.

Make a formal complaint.

This is unacceptable and you have legal rights:
https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/amending-patient-and-service-user-records/

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your replies.

It may have been entered onto your notes in error and been about a different patient. Misidentification happens often.

Request a review of the issue and correction to records. They won't be able to remove it (notes can't be deleted - all entries must remain for legal reasons and transparency) but, they can strike through it and write corrective notice next to it.

P.s. I'm a specialist in NHS re these types of matters, so hope that helps. Its annoying but don't stress about it I see it quite often