Do NHS doctors have access to GP medical records?

[R2221]

I have a mental health issue for which I’m considering getting referred through my GP. A few close friends are NHS doctors. A couple, who are both hospital doctors and one GP (in a different area). Can they see me records if they want to?

I dont know about all trusts but at ours they couldn't. It is unethical and they would risk gross misconduct if caught.

I'd be terrified of that so much so that I don't even treat people I know if there is someone else available who could do it. I'd never look just to be nosy and tbh dont have the time anyway.

No they wouldn't. GP would have to send your record information to the requesting doctor. NHS hospital's can only view patient information within the same trust, not external health services. There would also be a trail of all requests on your record and under their name. It also depends what systems they have access to within their trust, for example, I can view letters from one service but not another because I don't work in that area. Your GP can refer you to a named consultant though if that's their speciality.

I wouldn't have thought so ,when I worked in Mental health,GP,s would receive a summary letter from the named psychiatrist regarding treatment ,etc but they certainly couldn't access electronic mental health records ,and mental health staff couldn't access a person,s general notes .

My GP doesn't share my notes with our hospital. I know this because when I had a pre-op the nurse went online to look up my medication but it wasn't there. I had to show her on the NHS app.

I think some things, especially medications that people take, should be shared widely. DS2 is a nurse in A&E, it makes it difficult when they have patients in who say that they take "that little red tablet..." but have no idea of the name of it.

I work in a hospital and we absolutely can access GP records through our computer system - not all the detail but a summary version with details of problems, prescriptions, letters from other hospitals etc. However access is strictly controlled and you are only allowed to look at them with a legitimate reason. Unauthorised access is a disciplinary offence.

You can choose to opt out of allowing hospital access but it does make it harder for us to get information we need to safely treat you if, for example, you are brought in unconscious and can’t tell us what you are allergic to or what medication you are on.

The system we use is the Care and Health Information Exchange if you want to look it up.

As others have said:

1. logistically probably not. Basically in my trust we dont have access to gp records as they use a different notes system. We do have access to the "spine" which contains basic info attached to you eg address and nhs number, sometimes next of kin etc. Only some roles have access to this. Sometimes we have accesa to some information if its on a referral letter theyve sent us

2. ethically its a massive no. Obviously due to this ive never checked any records of people i know personally, its a very obvious ethics issue that people are aware of. Even if i had an lapse in judgement, and somehow had access to the gp system Id be pretty concerned id be caught!
   Any record has a list of who has accessed it. Equally on my system it makes you state your purpose for opening a client record if you dont have an open referral to your specific team. Eg i work in the adult mental health team and get that prompt if i open the record of someone open to the childrens mental health. It does get audited. I actually get an email everytime someone accesses one of my patients that is open to me. Even before that system, ive been emailed to ask why i accesses xyz note.

@Butterer
Sorry im not sure if you mean that you are suprised the letters are detailed or that you are suprised you werent originally sent them or if you were suprised that have now sent you them?

They do in my trust and I can see them as well, but unless they are directly treating you they are not allowed to look, they will be struck off if they are found looking at friends notes so I think it's highly unlikely they will dare.
My notes are available to everyone of my colleagues and I'd die if they knew what had happened to me in the past, abortions, domestic violence etc but I know none of them will look and if I though they had I'd get a data protection check.

@Butterer Hampshire and Isle of Wight system?

Ah. There is a system called The Care and Health Information Exchange in H&IoW which shares information from GPs, hospitals, community services etc. The Yorkshire one is similar I think.

They aren’t joined up, an outsourcing company were meant to write a system that did that years back but they messed it up and it got abandoned.

So don’t worry, plus I think doctors are too busy to think of doing that, I’m married to one and he barely eats let alone look up records!

I’m pretty sure they can’t just look at someone’s medical records just to be nosey. There has to be a genuine medical reason.

Yes and no in my hospital. If your GP is from the same area as the hospital then yes. But if you're out of area then no.

Also, for me (as a nurse) even on patients I can access I can only see their prescription history and any blood results their GP has done because they are the only things that are clinically relevant for me. Doctors, physios, etc. may have access to different stuff from GPs practices :)

But for what it's worth, I don't think you should worry about your friends doing this. To do so would potentially lose them their job, but also be pretty boring, and unless they have a reason to look - why would they? On our computer systme you would have to specifically search for "Sarah Smith" and then find the Sarah Smith with the right DOB and that is all a lot of effort to go to unless you think there is something specifically that would give them cause to look IYSWIM?

Traditionally no, the GP was the ultimate assembler & gatekeeper of all the records, kept the master copies, and shared relevant detail but certainly not absolutely everything to consultants or other referrals. The IT systems don't match up & It's considered a privacy violation to share or look at health information that isn't likely to be relevant to treatment being considered.

I don't think that has changed anywhere. If you see letters with detail you didn't expect from an NHS source, then those details were specifically supplied with the referral or upon specific request from (for instance) a consultant to the GP.

Basically, it is different in every area!

A lot of my friends are in medicine and say it's only if you're authorised to view it. If you're unauthorised and were questioned on it, you'd be penalised as it would show you'd accessed them, as the PP said. So it's possible, but not done because their job would be at risk. Equally, if a student doctor was training at a CMHT and knew someone there, they have to give details of that person and would not be given access to that patient's records or allowed to participate (sit in) in that patient's appointments.

You can't in my trust. It depends where you are in the country.

In my trust you can see a a list of previous diagnoses and medications (made by and prescribed by GP) and you can see letters from hospital to GP e.g. if you stayed overnight or saw a consultant in a clinic.

The mental health hospitals and consultant psychiatrists also use an entirely separate system which requires a different ID card and account that regular hospital staff don't have. This system is usually very detailed as psychiatrists ask much more information about personal history and circumstances, but as I said, it's not available to general medical staff.

Every sign to all systems in is logged and monitored by a department so you can't look at a random person's notes without having a clinical need to do so - it's quite a serious offence to look up notes of people you aren't treating.

We don't have access to GP records but we'd be able to see a letter sent by a GP if it had been scanned on the electronic records. You'd be questioned for accessing records if not your patient. I can't imagine anyone would do this.