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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Can he look up my medical notes?

66 replies

NameChang12 · 18/09/2019 21:28

Posting here for traffic.

Is it possible for my ex husband to look up my medical notes?

I’ve recently been diagnosed with a condition which requires major surgery although recovery prognosis is good. But it’s a possibility that I may need a carer for up to a year whilst I rehabilitate. If all goes well I should make a full recovery but I have been informed that a long rehab period is a small possibility.

Unfortunately I’m currently caught in a bad divorce where ex wants full custody of dc.

I haven’t told him about the illness and don’t wish to in case he uses it against me. He’ll obviously have to know I’m having surgery as it will affect our dc but for all he knows it could be something routine.

However he is a doctor (GP) and I’m afraid if he looks up my records he will use this information against me.

I know he’s not allowed to in theory but I wouldn’t put it past him to look it up on the sly. He’s not stupid and won’t ever admit it but there are undoubtedly ways that he could force this information to come out.

Are there any doctors on MN who knows if he’s able to do this?

OP posts:

SD1978 · 19/09/2019 03:16

You could raise a concern with the hospital- if he works in a department unrelated to yours would also make that known- I know in our department there is generic log ons, people leave the system on in their log on- but this would also be easily checked and can be seen if it's during his time in hospital. If you feel that his may have happened- then it can be checked up and he will be at quite a high risk of serious disciplinary action. Do you have any reason to believe he may have done so already?

Toastymash · 19/09/2019 04:10

He could look up your notes on the sly but he wouldn't be able to use it as evidence for anything in a custody battle because he isn't supposed to look. He knows that.

Jesaminecollins · 19/09/2019 04:42

@NameChang12

He will be able to look at your notes I'm afraid. However you can report him to the GMC if he does and they can investigate him which might mean he will be suspended while they do the investigation. Does he really want to risk ending his career?

SleepWarrior · 19/09/2019 04:47

Toasty, you're right he couldn't legitimately use it against her. However, as he's a doctor I think op is concerned that he would lie and say that he knows about her condition because he noticed x and y symptom and put two and two together, nothing to do with sneakily looking up notes.

makingmammaries · 19/09/2019 05:14

More chance of him getting the information by chatting to the right person in the staff canteen.

SplintersOnTheFence · 19/09/2019 05:21

He could get a colleague in the department to look up. There are ways round every system. The assumption is, the system is electronic.

I do read some rubbish on here. Ie "if someone with the same surname looks up notes, there is an in built flagging system". How does that work with Smith, Jones, or Patel? Notwithstanding it is quite possible these days that every person in a household could be blood related yet have a different surname.

Jesaminecollins · 19/09/2019 05:50

@SplinterOnTheFence

I worked in medical records at major hospitals and the security is very lax. We were always losing records all the time sometimes they would turn up in the boot of some Consultants car because he forgot they were there. (I have said this before) A colleague of mine was sacked for looking up ex husbands girlfriend's records and reading she had several abortions and using it against her to get her husband back. She was sacked on the spot but that doesn't stop others from reading them I myself read my mother's records but I didn't disclose to anyone I had. She was dying from cancer and I needed to know what the doctors intentions were with her treatment because he wouldn't tell me what he was going to do.

Landlubber2019 · 19/09/2019 05:58

Nhs worker here, I believe I can access my children's records (albeit without good cause to do so) however a digital footprint would be traceable, my job would be at risk and I could be prosecuted. I also believe it would create an alert if I sought to access their information.

Coldhandscoldheart · 19/09/2019 06:07

@SplintersOnTheFence I’m not sure how it works, and I think it’s fairly recent, but I can think of 2 or 3 times in the last few months where our ward has had an enquiry from IT about a staff member accessing the record of someone with the same surname. All totally legit, but it does seem to be a thing.

Jesaminecollins · 19/09/2019 06:09

@Landlubber2019

Yes you would be unless you worked in medical records and have access to the system like I had. Luckily I was a trustworthy person and would never have jeopardized my job especially as my husband was one of the Hospital Managers.

Makemethin · 19/09/2019 06:18

Everyone has a nationally held record, which yes, he could look up with access to a smart card (which I assume he has as he's a Dr). If he did this without your consent, it would be gross misconduct. This record really is the bare bones of allergies, medications you're on etc. It's unlikely that it shows investigations, diagnoses etc. As you as a patient have to opt into that enhanced record specifically with your GP.

You can find out who has looked at your record by contacting NHS Digital and putting in a request.

He will also be able to access the local hospital record as he works there - this will hold all the information about you and what is happening at the hospital. I'm not too sure on procedure here but I would imagine it is exactly the same as viewing your national summary care record and you'd need to speak to someone in IG at the hospital.

Soontobe60 · 19/09/2019 06:22

@HollowTalk
I think any man who wants full custody when his ex is a normal woman (not abusive, not a druggie etc) is a complete and utter bastard.

Really? So the only parent who is entitled to have custody of a child is the mother? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while on here!
Why would a father not want custody? Does he love his children less than the mother? Is he any less a parent? Will the children come to harm if they live with him? By the same token, you could argue that any mother who wants custody of her chi,drew over their father is a complete bastard too.

Mummybares · 19/09/2019 06:30

Could he not ask the court to confirm that you are fit and healthy basing it on concerns from health issues you mentioned during the marriage? He could word it so you have to say the truth like a statement if you are healthy fit and capable?
Could he not reopen the custody issue once you have a carer? He could report his concerns to SS and they might temporarily agree he has them most of the time while you are ill?

Mummybares · 19/09/2019 06:33

Surely the focus is what will be good for the children? Be with you during the surgery and long rehabilitation and carers in the home or with the dad?

Soontobe60 · 19/09/2019 06:34

OP, obviously it's a huge concern that your medical notes could be accessed to use against you, and you've had some good advice on here regarding this. What I would advise you also doing is putting a really strong plan in place for looking after the children whilst you are recovering from your operation. I assume their father has contact with them? So at some point he will need to know about the changes in who's looking after them whilst you're not able to. He may no doubt then apply for RP. Showing that you have covered all bases regarding child care will certainly help your case, but you have to be prepared that being incapacitated may well go against you. After all, surely if one parent was unable to look after the children for a considerable length of time, the other parent would be first choice of being their primary carer?
It may well be a good idea to get legal advice about this now, before the event, rather than after your operation.

St0pTryingT0MakeFetchHappen · 19/09/2019 06:37

Hi OP. Have a look at the "Caldicott Guidelines". These are a set of guidelines that healthcare professionals have to use when accessing medical data. Doctors and nurses are not allowed to access their own medical records without application via FOI via the hospital. The records will be electronically "tagged" each time someone accesses them. Unnecessary access is a disciplinary offence.

SplintersOnTheFence · 19/09/2019 06:39

You certainly cant "lock" records where I work. There are levels of access, I have a particular level, which allows me to access all records at that level.

You simply cannot build in all the ifs and buts. Our Trust services over half a million London borough residents, let alone visitors.

There is always the assumption every trust, every hospital in that trust uses the same system. They do not.

Information sharing is lax. The CCG phone up everyday wanting verbal information. As do the LA safeguarding teams, social services. It depends on your relationship with those people.

If someone, in authority, wants information, they will get it.

SplintersOnTheFence · 19/09/2019 06:41

@St0pTryingT0MakeFetchHappen

Our trust has paper records. It is antiquated. Nothing to stop me wandering in, I have door access, and pulling them off the shelf. Who would record that?

Catquest1 · 19/09/2019 06:42

Agree with all the PP but thought i would add that i worked someone whose relative was accessing services in the same trust as they worked and for various reasons (which i won't go into) Information Governance put a lock down on the electronic medical records so only the immediate staff involved in delivering could access their notes - even our admin couldn't access them for phone numbers/address etc. So it is possible!

For lab results/xrays we have to record a legitimate professional relationship to the patient to access results

Oblomov19 · 19/09/2019 06:45

Unfortunately the system is so lax it's possible he's already had access.

St0pTryingT0MakeFetchHappen · 19/09/2019 06:48

@Splintersonthefence if it's a badge access door then that would be recorded. I agree that there is no 100% way to say someone couldn't, however, if a person had sudden knowledge of a procedure that they shouldn't know anything about (as they hadn't been told by OP) and then there was evidence that they had been into a record cupboard/record that was not justified, it would look v bad and the GMC/NMC are VERY punitive. It would be investigated and during that time it would be exceptionally stressful for the healthcare professional involved.

I would like to think that the Caldicott Guidelines are taken seriously! It's a very important principle.

Rocketmanager · 19/09/2019 06:56

Is it normal for Gp’s to also work as hospital doctors?

TheStuffedPenguin · 19/09/2019 06:57

I don't know how far along you are BUT there is a medical statement part in your Consent Order where you have to state your medical situation.

PixiKitKat · 19/09/2019 07:02

If he does this, and is caught, it is a serious enough data breach that it would be reported to the ICO. It's called a Section 170, people get fired for this but the ICO can bring criminal charges for it so anyone who does this, could end up with a criminal record if they decide to press charges.

Loveislandaddict · 19/09/2019 07:09

Can you contact the hospital and ask thatnhe doesn’t have access to your notes. I know in a gp setting you can block someone from accessing your notes.

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