To make a complaint about this?

[Sorcerer]

Name changed to protect my identity.

Someone that I know who is a medical receptionist made a comment the other day about an aspect of my health that she could not have known about from me. It wasn't anything too embarrassing or even that interesting, but I am 110% certain that I have not spoken to her about this.

I don't think she could have got the info from anywhere else as we have no mutual friends.

I am worrying that she may have looked at my records or something - surely she can't do that?

COMPLAIN!!! immediately. that is appalling.

should have added that she could have seen your central NHS records - either way she obviously knows something she shouldn't. you could ask her outright?

Can you not just ask her the truth and tell her your concerns?

Find out what system your surgery uses. There's a new system called system one (spelling?) That is being rolled out across the country that gives people access to everyones records. If the two surgerys use this system then it is possible that she could've accessed it at work. This would be a serious breach of confidentiality & should be reported. Its a mojor concern with the use of System one, and it relies on the trustworthiness & honesty of workers not to snoop.

bananastew, I don't think that;s the case, System One depends on smart cards, you're registered to an organisation, and can only see records for your own organisation.

I work for the nhs (not gp) and I was told that we can access anyone's records who is in our area and on the system we use, but that there are audits done so anyone who is accessing records that they have no reason to would eventually be asked the reason why.

and only for people on your own teams caseload. I dont think systm one would allow access to files of patients outside the surgery. All access is logged though so you could ask who has viewed your files.

everyone who has access has a different level of clearance so someone in A and E for example may be able to look up anyone but someone at a Gp's would only have access to patients registered with their surgery.

We have a system at work that allows us access to notes etc. But we have to have a legitimate reason to be looking at them. I went on maternity leave before I got to have a go so I dont know how much checking up is being done.
It did sound pretty tight though.

Technically I could look at someone's notes who didnt use my service at all.

When I was a medical secretary I could've looked at anyone's notes without being questioned. The security was dreadful. You could stroll into med recs and spend all day reading confidential stuff if you wanted to.

I never did. You would be amazed at how many times I got asked to do it though out of pure nosiness/nastiness!

I hope things have changed.

i am resigning as a gp s receptionist this week. as a receptionist you do have access to records,but you do need a legit reason to access them.

i have friends who are at the gp i am a receptionist for - i would not dream of going into those records. in fact - if i need to i ask another member of staff to do so. if the system used is system 1 it logs every single click of the mouse. i do not need to know what my friends are seeing the gp for. i dont want to know.

i would ask the women in question how she knew this info and base your response on what she says.
she sounds unprofessional at the very least.

Sorceror, could you really not just ask your friend how she knew about this?

I would definitely do this.

"Since I last saw you, something has been really bugging me. How on earth did you know about X?"

Simple. She will either have a perfectly reasonable explanation, or she will squirm.

I suppose I could speak to her, although I would feel a bit embarrassed to, especially if she has seen anything that I wouldn't want her to. I never really see her - more likely to just bump into her than anything else. She is incredibly nosey which is why I was so suspicious.
I think I'll sleep on it and decide what to do tomorrow .

I suppose I could speak to her, although I would feel a bit embarrassed to, especially if she has seen anything that I wouldn't want her to. I never really see her - more likely to just bump into her than anything else. She is incredibly nosey which is why I was so suspicious.
I think I'll sleep on it and decide what to do tomorrow .

Thing about the summary care record/electronic health record/NHS spine, whatever you want to call it, is that everyone knows full well it is not at all secure.

There's supposed to be clearances and (at one point at least, dunno if it's still around) a smart card system. But in A&E, for instance, people might get a tad busy.

So what actually happened during the trials was that Doctor X or Nurse Y would stick their smart card in and leave it there all day for any other health professional to use. Result is anyone passing could get on the system and the idea that there would be some kind of electronic trail showing who had accessed what, when, and why was blown apart.

I'm a practice nurse with a smart card but can only access records for patients within our practice, and even then our system (Emis, not System One) leaves an audit trail so all keystrokes can be traced if needed.

My contract has a section relating to confidentiality, and accessing records with no need is a breach of confidentiality and a disciplinary offence.

All practice staff are bound by the same contract regarding confidentiality, so even though a receptionist can quite reasonably access your notes (the GP may ask them to find paperwork relevant to a referral, some receptionists also have an admin role so will do scanning, typing, referrals, filing etc) they shouldn't breach confidentiality.

However, if this woman doesn't even work at your surgery I can't see how she could access your records. I imagine she's either made an educated guess or been told something by someone else - either way I would ask her how she knows as it's bothering you. If she has been told your info by someone else you should complain about them!

That sounds like a reasonable system, Sidge - far better than the A&E I described! Do you think it's the difference between EMIS and System One (I know some people really rate EMIS)?

I haven't used System One, Edam, but I know quite a few practices have it from posts on a practice nurse forum I use. I find Emis quite clunky and the zillions of read codes drive me potty! But it's OK.

I'm certainly no expert but AFAIK smart cards are personalised, so that I can access certain info, more than receptionists but not as much as GPs. I can't access Choose and Book like the GPs can, as I have no need for it, but can access nurse-led referral pathways which admin staff can't.

Smart cards are personalised but as someone has already said people leave them in computers. Every click of the mouse is also logged to it will be easy to find out if she has looked. I've never looked to see how much of someones notes I can view. I just know that as long as I have the name, DOB & NHS number I have never not been able to view a patient that I have needed to. We don't work linked to a specific surgery.
Perhaps there is the difference. As a GP receptionist there is no need for her to be able to view anyone elses records!

Ask her! And let us all know how she found out!

Could it just be a co-incidence? Maybe she has the same problem as you do and that was what she was referencing?

There is no way she could have got at your records, you are being paranoid about that, there must be another explanation.

Did she explicitly say "That condition of XYZ which you have"? I just wondering if maybe you put 2 and 2 together and came up with 5 for what she meant?