Medical records - any drs?

[Sallzanne]

Just a quick one -

Is it possible for a Doctor to access anyone's medical records? I am undergoing treatment for cancer and am able to get by from day to day as i am only being treated with radiation. Since being diagnosed several people have said (in some capacity) "oh my such-and-such is a doctor, i'll ask them their advice". Is it possible for any doctor (of any discipline) to then go away and access my medical records when they are, say on their break/have a spare min etc etc?

If so, aibu to ask the extent of the info they can see. How much personal info does the available info contain (ie is it easy to search and absolutely pinpoint a specific person. for example, if you wanted to search someone on facebook you could do so quite easily by seeing a pic which confirms that the name relates to the person youre searching) Only reason i ask is that i am selective with who i tell and the whole "degrees of separation" theory concerns me. Thx

I'm not a doctor but it would be very unethical for anyone to access your records unless you are being treated by them. I'd imagine people are asking in a much more general way (and the doctors will prob say they can't possibly advise without seeing you anyway if they are anything like the ones in my family )

I don't think its's that easy. When my mum was sick she had to write a note saying her consultant had her permission to discuss her condition with my bil (a doctor). They'd not be able to access your GP records either.

People say such stupid things, don't they? No doctor would discuss your case with a friend, it would be completely inappropriate. Another GP in the same practice would have full access to your records, and within the same hospital a doctor could probably access at least some information, if they really wanted to, but why would they? I think you are worrying unnecessarily.

As a GP I can access all the records of all the patients in my practice. Some of my younger colleagues have passwords to the hospital systems from when they worked in hospital and can access every single person in our health board area if they wished. But this is a disciplinary offence and would lead to instant dismissal. If I had this access I could go online and access all my neighbours records although there are still a lot of gaps in the online records in the hospitals. All the letters are on their and all the blood results.

All doctors are very very aware of the confidentiality issues and because everyone has their own password and user name it is easy to see who has been in the record before you as the system logs whoever goes on. They would be utter fools to breach this trust. If you suspect someone has been looking at your records it would be very easy to do an audit trail.

All the best with your treatment.

It is possible, however very few gp or nurses wouldn't dare risk their licence and jobs to do it.

I can access personal information, but it confidential and no way would I ever look up anyone's medical record. I haven't even looked at my own medical information.

Yes we can but quite frankly it's not important enough to me to know your details. No one would risk thee job, career, livelihood and a hell of a lot of hard graft just to see a random patients notes!!

Many times people ask about family or friends, doctors just respond about the condition and not the effect. I hate being asked specifically, but don't mind so much if it's someone close to the asker.

In my trust (I don't know if it's the same everywhere) it's possible to search for people by name, but you would need to know more personal information about them to be certain you're looking at the right person.

There are no photos on the system but there are details like your date of birth and address.

I would think that there is no way a doctor would ever do what you're concerned about - the dr's I work with are far too busy to do it for a start. It would be highly unprofessional - definitely a disciplinary matter, if not a sack able offence if they were caught.

it is a disciplinary offence to look up even your own medical records unless there is express permission/reason to do so

someone giving an informal "opinion" or just being a bit interested does not count

access is also tracked as you have to use a personal log in to access confidential info

Thanks everyone. I just have this fear that when these people say "oh my mates a dr, i'll ask him" that the dr will then go and have a cheeky look at my records (certain elements of my condition regard things id be upset if ppl knew. My point is that noone would ever admit to this being done and i wouldnt know. I suppose thats my main concern really. A bit like if someones mate was an estate agent they could technically tell them how much someone sold their house for, if they had access to that info. The receiver of the info wouldnt let on they knew and the home owner would never be any the wiser. Stupid analogy but hope you get my drift...

this document explains it

Professional medical people are constrained by different codes of conduct than eg. an estate agent

Also I don't think there is a medical equivalent of Zoopla misses point entirely

Our latest digital patient data. system actually comes up with a text box which says "every patient search is audited" every single time you use it just to remind you that you should only be searching for the patients actually under your care.

As if you'd conveniently forget! Don't worry about it OP, as others have said it wouldn't be worth the risk for anyone to look.

OP, many trusts and health Boards have systems set up to detect questionable access to patient notes. And doctors (or any other health care professional) who access notes who have no reason to will automatically be called to an investigatory hearing as minimum. Medical records should only be accessed on a needs-to-know basis, ie by the physicians and nurses actually treating and attending to that patient. A doctor would most likely be reported to the GMC if found guilty of having a nosy, and would risk losing their licence to practice as well as being sacked by their employer. It really wouldn't be worth the risk.
So, the likelihood that anyone has accessed your notes inappropriately is extremely small.
Hope that helps.

Where I work we can access the record of any of our registered patients, but can't access records of people registered at another GP practice.

Not a gp but an allied health profession. I cant access any records on our computer system that i dont have a professional need to access. We get a warning message which asks why you need to see these notes and says a record will be sent to my boss. Ive always found is very useful as you be surprised for example how many mr browns or mr jones there are out there. If i get the warning message i double check my other information so i can locate the right notes. I have no access to any information gp writes even if its my patient unless the gp has written to us. Hope that puts your mind at rest. There are strict controls for very good reasons including what your mentioning. I can discuss a patients care with other members of my team and send patients for second opinion within our team but this is always done with patients knowledge. We have a code of practice. Keeping fingers crossed for you re your cancer treatment. Xxx

I've worked in 5 hospitals as a medical secretary, in each of them we have only been able to access records of treatment patients have received at that hospital. Every induction I've ever had makes a big deal about not looking up random records, it's not taken lightly.

I think its just people showing off. If they really knew a doctor they would know it isnt possible or ethical to access your records.

I think they are meaning..I will ask my GP friends opinion as a GP.

Are they paper or electronic records?

The same level of confidentiality applies to both of course and I would echo what others have said that absolutely no way would I ever risk looking up some random records as it would be a disciplinary offence.

But also if they are paper notes it would be quite hard to do. They would be stored in the depths of the hospital somewhere and it takes ages to order them for legitimate purposes like clinics. It's not something you could do on a whim.

We have electronic records that are easier to look at but still there is a warning message if I try to access records (by mistake) for anyone not under my care and I'm sure that would cause anyone to think twice.

People do ask you random questions about their friends health when you are a Dr. Lots of the time it's something you know nothing about anyway. You get practised at gently deflecting with general answers.

We once fired a member of staff and reported them to their regulatory body for accessing the medical records of somebody they used to work with unnecessarily. There were a few other problems but this was the main one resulting in immediate action.

Absolutely not. My husband works at a famous hospital in London and every now and then someone says "oh, so and so is having treatment there, why don't you have a quick peek at his/her results" - it would be an immediate sackable offence, and probably get struck off. Any peek into electronic notes is audited.

I think that what people are meaning is that they'll ask their doctor friend their opinion on your condition - which is equally annoying as it is fairly meaningless when they don't know your history and are probably not in that area!

House prices are publicly available information so anyone can find them, whether estate agent or not BTW.

My estranged mil works for Hywel Dda trust and has accessed my medical records without my consent, I had an audit done and they brushed it under the carpet and the old bag is still working there accessing confidential records and nothing being done about it!!