to think logic has gone out of the window?

[Shitonmyshoe]

Accessing medical records is now a regular thing to be able to do online via patient services website. My aunt has various physical and mental health issues and is house bound. She followed her GP surgeries procedure of filling in a form (collected by her carer) from the practice.

The practice manager is now refusing grant her access without photo id. She has offered all kinds of id including bank statements, birth certificate, utility bill NI number etc.

What is galling is that if she requested the records via a subject access request then the photo id would not be required, further, how would they ensure it was her in the photo if her carer was the one presenting them with the id as she is house bound.

She has been at the practice for years and is prescribed regular medication including controlled medications.

Opinions and advise welcome.

What type of photo ID do they require? It should clearly set this out on the form. If not, then it's worth asking what the rationale is, given that she's known to the practice. At the very least it should be possible for her to scan & email the documents.

If there is someone there who knows her by sight, can she arrange a Skype call with them to verify instead?

They won't entertain a home visit for verification purposes and the form does not state, however, the practice manager says it must be driving license or passport, she has neither. Theoretically, she could apply for a passport but she cannot leave the house to have the required photos taken. Bureaucracy gone mad!

In which case, I'd set up a video Skype call with your aunt and whoever at the practice knows her by sight. It's pretty straightforward to do.
Hmm, it seems that the practice manager is trying to adhere to the [[https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/identity-verification.pdf NHS recommended guidelines for confirming identity.]]
If your aunt has been known to the practice for a number of years though, then there's no reason that one of the "Vouching" options referenced couldn't be applied.
If she's really unable to get to the surgery for this though, then I'd push for them booking an appointment to hold a video Skype call and vouching that way. It's fairly straightforward to run a video Skype and whoever's doing the vouching will be able to see it's her on the call.

Hopefully the practice manager will see sense on this one.

Oops - please ignore first two sentences - poor editing on my part!

Thank you. I am going to look at this now. Yo have been extremely helpful 😊

Utterly frustrated with this situation. The practice manager will not reply to calls and admin staff constantly say she's in a meeting. The staff are clueless as to procedure. It looks like a sar is the only option. The irony of a disabled person being disgracefully treated by those placed a a caring capacity.

Oh, so sorry to hear that - frustrating sounds like an understatement. Is there anyone else you can complain to?