How angry with my Dr surgery should I be?

[ApolloandDaphne]

I made an appointment with my GP last Tuesday for tomorrow. It's a follow up after I had an x ray as they requested I go back in to talk over the results.

Today my DH for a notification to his phone telling him he has an appointment tomorrow. It's my appointment (same time and GP). I
am cross because i will need to go in earlier than my time to sort it out but i'm really cross because I believe this breaches confidentiality/GDPR. DH knew about the appointment but I might have had reason to keep it from him.

How angry should I be about this?

Have you checked your details in your nhs app to make sure they have your phone number for you and not his?

It’s not a GDPR breach. They are telling him he has an appointment, which is incorrect, not that you do. Moderately annoying, no need to be angry.

They definitely have my phone number as they have phoned me for phone appointments. Why would they have his on my records other than as next of kin/emergency? Also we don't have an app like that in Scotland.

You can choose not to be really angry you know. It can be quickly sorted without any drama.

Well if it was a secret appointment, it would still be secret as presumably it hadn’t got your name on it?

I would just sort it out and not be angry. I don’t see it’s a big deal. What’s the point of being angry?

Not angry 😕

Yes I get it's not hugely GDPR related. I guess though if I was separated from him or he was
abusive I wouldn't want him to know I had an appointment. I think as a retired SW I am very aware of these things. I'm just wondering whether to mention this when I'm in. I'm not going to be making a massive fuss.

For quite a few years I would randomly get appointment confirmations, phone calls for HV appointments, text messages congratulating me on the birth of my baby....none of which were for me. I tried to get to the bottom of it but no-one I contacted knew why it was happening as it was different surgeries and departments who were messaging me. I've not had anything for ages - suppose I'm just saying it could be a technical hitch that no-one knows has happened.

Yes absolutely mention it and don’t let up until you get a satisfactory answer for the mix up. No need to be “angry” though.

Ah this is very true!! That hadn't occurred to me. It's still really rankling me and I can't put my finger on why this is. Possibly because the last GP saw was really dismissive of my concerns so I'm already on the defensive before this appointment.

This.

I realise it can be sorted without drama but i'm
still cross.

Anyway I'm off to bed now. Hopefully I'll be less cranky in the morning!

Well considering it’s not a problem and not caused any
pointless running through the what if scenarios because they didn’t happen

you’d be better sending them a message via the app asking why and you don’t want it happening again . This needs a back office admin to look at not the receptionist or the person on the front line phones
( I get my mums because I once used my phone number to get auth code to log her in to nhs app )

going with an arsey angry attitude people are less inclined to help you

But he wouldn’t know. He got a message saying he had an appointment; he would assume it was an error, call them in the morning and they’d say “we have you in for an appointment” and he’d tell them that he never booked one and it would be cancelled. They wouldn’t mention you.

You have the same surname and they’ve obviously booked him in by mistake, instead of you. If you were separated, you’d turn up for the appointment to find it never existed and he’d have been told he had an appointment which he would correct them on as a mistake.

Drama out of nothing.

But if you were separated or he was abusive, then you wouldn't have his number saved as a contact on your record. At some point, you've provided his number.

All you need to do is ask which numbers they have for you, confirm your preferred one, and decide whether you want his to remain on the record in case of emergency contact, or would rather have just yours. They still can't share information with an alternate contact (unless you sign a consent form) but they can contact it and ask to speak to you.

I only access private medical care now after the fuck ups I’ve had with my medical notes. Huge amount of stuff that isn’t even mine and nobody would believe me, so I go private as couldn’t cope anymore being treated the way I was .

I won't be arsey in the slightest. I am very polite and they will be very helpful as the receptionists are lovely. I would
like it not to happen again though to
me or anyone else.

I have already pointed out that we don't have an NHS app in Scotland but I do know they have my phone number. I've been a patient for 18 years and never changed my number.

For some strange reason when I logged onto my nhs app, an email was sent to my husbands account to say app had been accessed. Most probably my fault somewhere along the line that I gave a wrong email. These things happen!

It’s nothing to do with wrong phone numbers.

He got a message saying HE had an appointment. They’ve booked him in for an appointment. It’s nothing to do with you or your phone number or your medical history. They’ve just booked the wrong person in for the appointment, probably due to shared surname.

If this were a secret appointment or you were separated, he wouldn’t know it had anything to do with you. He’d call them up and say it was an error as he didn’t book an appointment. They wouldn’t even mention you as whoever answered the phone wouldn’t know they had mixed you up.

We have family accounts
at so many offices because we are not a healthy family and have multiple specialists. Sometimes wires get crossed, especially since DH and I are both listed as the parent contacts for DD. Mistakes happen.

If I was concerned about my privacy, I would go to the office and separate our records. Having them linked is convenient for us. Sometimes dd and I especially go to the doctor together.

I'd just go in, like I've done when I've got appointment messages for my adult child, and let them know politely, "My DH got a notification about my appointment, I'd like to get them on my phone, can I please update the number these notifications go to on my file?"

That’s not how appointment bookings work, though, surely. It’s your full name and date of birth. Surely quite a few people will actually have the exact same first and surname at the same doctor’s surgery. There was a child with the exact same first and surname as my daughter at my doctor’s.