Not exactly AIBU, but ... the NHS should have, and use, my medical records, right?

[SarahAndQuack]

I've just had a phone appointment with a NHS consultant. My GP referred me, but apparently the consultant couldn't see anything on my medical history. This isn't the first time I've been told this. I've moved GP twice in the past few years and both times the new GP didn't seem to have anything on my medical records (one time they had nothing at all, the other time great big chunks were missing).

I've had various tests and procedures on the NHS, and they're just not recorded.

Is this a concern? I get that obviously I can just tell them the details, but would you not expect them to type my medical number into a box and see it all pop up?

(Just so I don't drip feed, my previous GP had awful form for confusing me and my partner and got us mixed up more than once, so I do wonder if her record is about nine miles long and full of two people's histories?!)

And it's a nightmare trying to get information between hospitals in different trusts. I work in a small hospital. So for some things we have to refer people to the big hospital in another trust. But quite often they only write back to the GP and patient/parent, and totally bypass the local hospital. The worst offenders for this are the most specialised centres of excellence. Trying to get any information back from Great Ormond Street Hospital is virtually impossible - I've only achieved it twice in over 20 years.

The ridiculousness of NHS IT systems is beyond belief.

I work in a hospital. I can access SystemOne if I need to, to view GP records, but the system takes a considerable time to load up between patients and it cuts into the already short amount of time to see patients. Sometimes it's not up to date.

It's much easier if the patient can quickly tell me the more salient points of their medical history and has a list of their medications.

Our patients now use an online patient booking service to book when and where they'd like undergo their outpatient investigations. The problem that occurs is that, if they opt for a different hospital for their scan, we then don't have access to the results when they come to the follow up clinic.

I've had patients accidentally add quite serious things to their medical history as they've misunderstood something a doctor said and we've written it on their notes. This has then been carried forward in their medical history and changed treatment decisions in the future.

Our maternity and psychiatry services in the same trust are on different online systems, meaning we have no access to that part of a patient's medical history.

It's all so frustrating!

I try to encourage my patients, if they are able, to make sure they know their drugs, allergies and keep their own records. They shouldn't have to, but it's the system we're in and will make their consultations easier.

I've made a laminated sheet for each of my grandparents that stays by the door. It has their medical conditions and date of diagnosis, surgical and proceedure history, allergies and medications on it.