WIBU to request a block on my medical records?

[ChangChang]

Ex SIL has started a job taking blood samples at the GP practice where I'm registered. Ex was abusive, and his family (I feel) are complicit in his treatment of me any two of my children (our eldest lives with his dad ☹️) AIBU to feel uncomfortable with the idea that she may have access to my medical records? WIBU to speak to the practice manager to find out, and request a block on her to preserve my privacy? I have some health concerns that I need to get checked out, but don't want my ex to know...

There are loads of (usually local) news stories about this kind of thing.
It's hard to tell from the stories in many cases if it was just carelessness with info they appropriately accessed or wilful snooping that led to data breaches.
It astonishes me cuz snooping often results in large fines or being sacked.
Just why would you take a chance like that?

Maybe I'm just not that interested in other people.

Thanks again, all - it sounds like I should speak to the practice manager to find out, however, this creates another anxiety - that if they then speak to ex SIL about it, my ex will go ballistic that I'm trying to jeopardise his sister's career?? May be easier to change practice, but then I like the GPs, they are fully up to speed with my mental health problems and background, etc...

If SIL has not looked then there won’t be a big deal over it from their end

I was asked by a patient to block a relative from a record but I did not tell the clinician about it. I just blocked the access

What is her job. Jf you tell the PM that she is not to take your blood or look after you in anyway then she has no reason to access your notes and if she does she faces gross misconduct.

@AccioCoffee - you can see other notes, I work in a hospital and I can see what GPs write about patients and all their attendances at various clinics and units.

Actually my pharmacist asked me about DHs drugs because they noticed the hospital has changed them and would I let them know when he is discharged so they can chase the GP - and he gets his scripts from the GP not the hospital .

I know this from a friend. My friend's friend got a job in the GP surgery friend was patient in. Friend could request through practice manager that she was not allowed access to the notes. It may not be the same in all but here you can.

In addition, some GP practices do monitor access. Friend's mum also works in the GP surgery and told friend she can't access her notes without permission as she can sacked if she is found accessing notes for no proper reason - one woman did apparently get sacked for it.

@WhatsMyPassword as I said before op is taking about a GP practice which is not a hospital setting. Read the thread

I'm a GP receptionist using Emis, and there's blocks on some patients. We have to get the pm or doctor to do any tasks on them, as we aren't able to access their notes.
So it's definitely possible.

@endofthelinefinally

The PM is the only person who can help you with this.

Fuck me - we don't need to get BoJo on the case do we!! 🤣

Having worked previously in a GP surgery & now in a hospital, my experience is that the two are very different.

In the GP surgery, all staff members could access all of every patients’ notes. There were legitimate reasons for this access - looking up medication previously prescribed, test results, future appointments etc.

In the hospital it IS flagged who accesses records. OK, I’m not sure that each individual login is checked routinely, but if a patient had a concern regarding a certain staff member looking at their records then we could definitely check & see whether they had accessed them or not.

Accessing patient files without a valid reason is, as others have said, gross misconduct & leads to dismissal.

I work in a GP Practice. If your practice uses EMIS, it's perfectly possible to 'lock' access so that every time someone tries to bring up your file, it asks if they have permission from the patient. This action is then automatically audited by the practice manager, who will be alerted to exactly who opens the records, when and for what purpose.
It can cause patients slight inconvenience from time to time but is what you need here.

it's Not unauthorised at all because it's a current patient of the Gp practice, why does no one understand this. If they are a patient then notes can be accessed at anytime.

Erm, because it's not true? Unless a member of staff has a legitimate need to be in any patient's records, it is absolutely unauthorised to go snooping in their records. Quite scary that you are so convinced that it's ok

Definitely not authorised to look at notes without a direct and good reason.

It's totally against the rules to look for nosy reasons.

It's quite frustrating that there's no information on the NHS website that explains how to protect your medical privacy records within your surgery, unless I've missed it?

I would have assumed this was a common concern; local surgery staffed with local people and patients don't want their family/old class mate/neighbour etc reading it.

Nautiloid, is there a way of knowing if your surgery uses EMIS or do you need to ring/speak to them to ask?

I know that in 2010 all surgeries should have informed their patients that their medical information was going digital and ask if they were happy with this.

Since then, there's the opt out of your detail being shared with everyone but this only stops everyone outside your surgery accessing your detailed record (ironically, if you want to a copy of your own notes, it's far more hassle?!)

Https:www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/your-health-records/

I work in the same health centre my GP surgery is in, my DH's friends work in the GP surgery. Access to patient notes is different based on what system you're on but I had my files 'locked down' by explaining to the Practice Manager in confidence that their staff were known to me both by my role which involved interacting with all their reception staff and our mutual friendship with some of them. My notes were closed and the reception staff could only see the basics.
In my role, I'm administrative and can see all the patients in my borough. However, if I had a relative/ friend who reported our relationship the system administrators can put a flag on the record so if I access it they'll be notified. I'd then have to explain my reasons for access. Those records are still open, but it'd send a notification were I to access them and it'd be known that I did.
Everyone in the NHS goes on constant, mindless training so no-one could plead ignorance over accessing notes/ records. Speak to the practice manager in confidence.

...so if I access it they'll be notified.
Sweetoblivion

Do you know who is notified by any chance?

I used to assume that certain roles had certain access; admin and reception staff - name, DOB, address etc. Medical staff - dates and who patient saw (GP/nurse) but that they could only access the detailed notes THEY had wrote.

I thought this until a few years ago when a receptionist went "yeah, I can see your immunizations righhhtttt backkkkk toooo when you were a baby, do you need a copy?"

Well, what else can anyone who is everyone that works at the surgery see?!

I'm not GP based, on my system 'they' is the system administrators- our IT dept. When the flag is triggered it goes to our managers via the IT helpdesk people for that system. If you've accessed a 'flagged' record you can see it but will then be asked to explain why you did. In our GP practice they have a different system- Emis? On that they can lock it so only GP's can see your full notes if you make a request and the reception/ nursing/ HCA staff will see just basics- name, NHS no, which GP is yours and which team they can book you in with. Otherwise the receptionists can see your full medical history as standard.

At the surgery my friend works at (as a receptionist) she can see everything on a patients file but her and her families notes are locked so she can't access them.

At my surgery, everyone who works at the surgery can see everything, apart from a very few patients where certain documents are blocked or they have the privacy system I mentioned above.
You would have to specifically click on certain areas to access them so it would have to be a deliberate choice. Technically every click is auditable but in most practices this isn't done routinely.
Receptionists and admin staff deal with a lot that isn't booking appointments, if they didn't have access the surgery would collapse.
At my practice I have the opposite issue. When I meet patients out and about a couple of them seem to think I am up to speed with everything that's happening in their lives!
@savingshoes - You can ring and ask what system they use...but I imagine other systems also have provision for this, it's purely that I'm not familiar with them.

No savingshoes - while those levels of access make sense from a privacy level, it wouldn't work.
Say a receptionist is phoned about test results. She or in rare cases he needs to be able to see those to tell the patient and give any message from the GP.
The patient isn't clear what they're meant to do next. You can look at the last consultation and see when the GP next wants them to be seen.
They tell you they don't have enough medication to last until their next appointment, so you go into their medications page and request some to tide them over...and on and on.

Receptionists open and direct almost all post coming into the practice as well as all emails sent to the main practice address.

Admin staff scan in all letters from the hospital, screening programmes etc, code the contents and send them electronically to the relevant clinician.

They summarise notes from previous practices on the system.

They perform searches to find specific groups of patients for recall...etc etc.

It's vital that your GP, nurse and phlebotomist can see your history.
If you do have a block on your file, when you order a repeat prescription, it will likely be passed to a GP to process.
For most other things, the receptionist will phone you each time to request your permission to do x.

I would personally choose another surgery if one is available.

You have a nominated privacy officer in each surgery. They are sent privacy notices. You have to look at each one which has flagged up that someone opened a record they should not have

Under the NHS constitution and GDPR access to patient notes must be fair, relevant, appropriate and you must have a legitimate reason for accessing them.

Legitimate reasons are only ever that you were working on that patient record as relevant to your job role.

You can usually audit trail every retrieval that has been made on a patient record

It is not vital for this phlebotomist to see your record, they would never be grading and giving out results anyway. They would take your blood test but I imagine you can go elsewhere?