To expect the Practice Manager to call me back.

[ElusivePManager]

I've been trying to speak to the practice manager for a couple of months. She's never available to speak when I call, always in a meeting. I'm told it's impossible to make an appointment to speak with her, they have no idea what day or time is convenient to call, but she'll call me back that day. She never calls.

I end up giving up. Thursday, I tried again. Was told she'd call later that day. No call. Repeat on Friday.

I've sent a letter but either it's being ignored or hasn't been received/passed on to her. I don't know what to do.

I've made several subject access requests for my medical records. I've noticed a few mistakes on the online summary and test results from a previous health authority are missing. I want to check for other errors and get things corrected. I've had no acknowledgement or response.

I'm currently not in the best health, have lots of stressful life events, and I'm in a lot of pain. It's difficult dealing with this as well.

Hopeful bump.

Very rude and unprofessional of her not to call you back. Can you contact your local PALS service to explain your dilemma and perhaps they can contact her on your behalf to get her to communicate with you.

How long do we have to comply?

You must comply with a request without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt of the request or (if later) within one month of receipt of:

<strong>any requested information to clarify the request (see Can we clarify the request?);</strong>

<strong>any information requested to confirm the requester’s identity (see Can we ask for ID?); or</strong>
<strong>a fee (only in certain circumstances – see Can we charge a fee?)</strong>

You should calculate the time limit from the day you receive the request (whether it is a working day or not) until the corresponding calendar date in the next month..

Depending on when you submitted your request, they might still have time to respond.

But if you've had no acknowledgement or response, it's time to look up what to do if you''ve not yet received the information and be prepared to kick up a stink (by following the guidelines for escalating the SAR).

Guidelines here

In this situation I would contact PALs you have tried to contact the practice manager directly multiple times, so she's had ample opportunity to contact you. Many practices also have an NHS page, I'd also complain on there as most practices don't tend to want bad reviews.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I wasn't sure whether to try calling again today but I'm feeling a bit intimated now. Two of the receptionists there are so rude and unpleasant. I didn't want to escalate things whilst I'm still unwell and needing treatment but I suppose I have to. There's a local patient liaison service I can contact.

Write a letter of complaint and make sure it`s signed for.
Also start the letter with
THIS IS A LETTER OF COMPLAINT.
I believe they have to respond.

It really depends upon what precisely you want them to do, if records are incorrect they may have written to the relevant departments for corrections - they may not have information for you yet. It would be professional to send a reply , even one that says I'm looking into it but they are extremely busy

Bu

If it's a subject access request, they have to respond within 30 days (as long as the request is reasonable), this request can me made verbally or online and patients are no longer charged under last year's GDPR regulations.

Threaten to complain to your local CCG and/or the Information Commissioner’s Office if they don’t respond

Thought I'd update.

I've spoken to the ICO. They say I have grounds for a complaint. I first requested the records over a month ago. Still no response or acknowledgment, let alone the actual records! Now I have to decide whether to take it further.

I was really hoping to resolve things amicably via speaking to the practice manager. I still need medical treatment so making a formal complaint isn't ideal

I work in patient safety and quality, including complaints management. Please don’t let the fact that you need medical treatment put you off from making a complaint, and do follow this up with the ICO

Agree with PPs -ICO and, definitely, your CCG.

Have you able to switch practices?

I would take it straight to the ICO OP. Don't bother stressing yourself with the surgery anymore. The ICO will take your complaint seriously.

They have one calendar month from your request, I recently requested both my gp records and hospital records, so two separate requests, and I had both back on disc with passwords within 14 days. As for incorrect records, mine are not correct, they do not show anything before I was 27, even though I have lived in the same city since I was a year old and have only had two different gp practices in all that time, I’m now nearly 50! If you find out what you can do about incorrect info on your record, please post as my records are scant to say the least.