School Mum starting at GP

[KnowlWay]

Is there any way to ensure she can’t access my medical records? She’s very mouthy. We get on okay but I don’t want her knowing anything about my health. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable. My husband does and thinks she won’t get a chance to be nosey.

I wouldn’t want any acquaintance/ friend having free access to mine
It's not free access. It's access only when required for a specific purpose. So in the case of the receptionist, if OP calls, she responds. Then actually requires to look at the history for the purpose of the appointment which is very likely.

Or GP asking information about ordering blood tests etc...but again, should only access the part of the record relevant to the task.

Many people have been sacked for looking up patient records and couldn't justify their actions. Including looking up their own record.

@Kitkat151 of course she can, people do it all the time
It's her personal information 🙄

@CausingChaos2

I doubt there is a way to block a particular user from a particular set of records. You can audit who has accessed each record and when. You can not give an employee access to a part of every record- e.g. results- by not giving a log in to a system that employee has no reason to use. But, it’s actually quite complicated to do as you suggest and block a single employees access to a single patient record within one system, but allow that employee access to the rest of the records on that system. Additionally, depending on her role, she could come across information out with the electronic record (e.g. Opening letters either in paper form or from the hospital server- which is how they are then logged into the gp’s electronic record in some systems)- you could not lock one employees access to one patients record. The systems simply aren’t that sophisticated- very expensive to add in to specification (I would have thought) and would be very rarely be used.

Additionally, depending on the size of the surgery, she might be the only one who does one particular role.

There is simply no way a gp surgery could 100% guarantee that an employee would NEVER come into contact with ANY confidential information about a patient. You can ask not to deal directly or not see a particular clinician, but in an emergency, you would probably have to. Most surgeries would say that if you wanted a guarantee like this, you’d need to move elsewhere.

@ThreeKneeRepeater

Surely if you change GP she will still have access through her PIN for NHS records anyway, if she was that interested. I can see anyone’s records if I chose, as I work in the NHS, but I understand the consequences of doing so and wouldn’t dream of it unless it was necessary. I would be dismissed if found out. Career over.

This

I work for a community trust and can access my clients records....I can also access the go records for all my clients and their families...on a needs to know basis.....there is a gp sharing agreement in place

Of course she can
However there is a permanent record of who accesses records. Looking at records without a need is a stackable offence. If I remember correctly there was a case involving Ed Sheeran?

It’s why I used to go to a busy pharmacy in town for my prescriptions rather than the one two streets away from my house. The majority of people with access to confidential medical information will act professionally, not go out of their way to find data on people they know and keep confidentiality but they are still just people and some people are incredibly nosy.

I work in general practice and staff are not allowed to access notes unless there is a reason for it. Everything is auditable. She will not be allowed to just look up your notes. If you feel uneasy, call the practice and ask the manager to lock your notes. This means that no one other than the GP or nurse treating you will be able to access your notes.

I would call my bff mouthy because she talks a lot....but she doesn't repeat confidential stuff so could be that she knows the difference- pretty sure she will be told this in her training. Gdpr is a massive thing now.

@KnowlWay

Is there any way to ensure she can’t access my medical records? She’s very mouthy. We get on okay but I don’t want her knowing anything about my health. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable. My husband does and thinks she won’t get a chance to be nosey.

This kind of thing makes me nervous too.

If you're chatting to her let her know, ''oh you know that they do generate reports to see who was searched, to check those searches match patients; appointments that day''. That should make her think.

True story but a Woman called Dolores McNamara won the euro millions the irish civil service did a report to see who'd searched for her, and 126 people who had no reason to search for her (but who had) lost their jobs. That might scare her.

At work, I work in HR and I do have access to people's records but because we all had the shit scared out of us with the dolores mcnamara story, I don't think many of us (wouldn't say none) would do searches out of curiosity.

Even if a patient is on my ward I have to have a justifiable reason to look up their records. I would have to be looking after them for that period of time and for example if I was booking them an appointment I would have no reason to be looking up their records with psych so even if I was their nurse I would need to be able to justify which information I was looking up. GDPR and confidentiality is taken very seriously and there are safeguards in place as I know some nurses have got into trouble for looking up someone with the same name as themselves.

I'm sorry but YABU, she may be gobby but she has gotten this job based on her cv and experience. Do you not feel that she deserves this job? Do you really feel its appropriate for you to contact this woman's new employer on a basis that you don't like her?

Don’t worry it will flag up if she starts snooping around

It’s made very very clear to us when we train on NHS systems what we can and can not use the systems for. It’s all traceable and heavily monitored

It’s made very clear it’s a sackable offence to abuse this. In my trust a number of staff we sacked for looking up a patient who had been in the news. And the NHS rarely sack anyone

Urgh

I’d move practise instantly!

Why would she care if you had an ear infection in 2016? Come on op. She doesn’t care that much about you.

Would a receptionist have your records up in front of her when you ring in though?

The OP is in the position of never being able to ring in for an appointment again if this is the case.

I didn't know receptionists had access to GP records.

But arrogant of you to assume she's not going to do her job properly in order to look up your maladies, you being a random school mum, just for the shits and giggles.

''you being a random school mum, just for the shits and giggles'' what does that even mean?

Similarly if she is the secretary who types the referral letters- what if no-one else does this role? Or it might mean your referral letters are delayed if it has to be put back on the list for someone else to do

I've been that secretary and yes the letter is sent to someone else or different team to be typed. It would have been much worse if I had typed letters for people I knew.

For OP yes the woman can access your records, there's plenty of training around not disclosing anything found out, ever. Its lose your job time if you do. This is actually enforced, audits are done on the system and if its noticed that records were looked at with no reason then explanations have to happen.

I've had this but the other way round. I worked somewhere and a person asked that I did not have access to their records. The person was told that they could not demand this. The fact that I had already seen their records as part of my role (we transferred from paper to electronic during my first months in the job) and could not be less interested in their information was by the by.
I am a consummate professional and over the course of my career have had access to lots of records of people I know or who are well known - I would NEVER tell anyone anything that was confidential. Plus I have enough to think about with my own health/life etc to be gossiping about someone else's.

@Crazycatlady007

I work in general practice and staff are not allowed to access notes unless there is a reason for it. Everything is auditable. She will not be allowed to just look up your notes. If you feel uneasy, call the practice and ask the manager to lock your notes. This means that no one other than the GP or nurse treating you will be able to access your notes.

That's a good idea.

Yes she will be able to access your records but to do do without good reason will result in a disciplinary. All staff also have to sign a confidentiality contract. It's really not worth worrying about.

@FourteenthDoctor

She cannot access your records without your consent

She can if needed to in the line of her work.

I know how you feel OP. One of the school mums I know works part time at DS school and is good friends with his teacher. They go out socially and I'm anxious she might know things out my family. We have had a lot of social care involvement that I really would not want any school mums to know about, I just have to hope that if she does know anything she doesnt share it but it does make me feel vulnerable and worried

Number3 that's only part of the sentence you just quoted. I could rewrite it but it's still there for you to read.

surgeries have thousands of patients & each persons notes tend to be extensive. pages & pages & pages
Staff at doctors surgeries are incredibly busy & someone who attempts to trawl through someone's notes in surgery hours would be noticed because they wouldn't be doing their job - from what I have noticed in most receptions the staff work in a room with other staff which means if she was being "nosey" she wouldn't be doing her job & I can imagine she would be noticed & if she saw something & mentioned it outside the surgery at the school gate she would be sacked by the surgery & (possibly?) she would be in danger of legal action (perhaps?) from the person whose privacy she invaded.
Frankly I don't think she would have the time to check up on peoples records

How is she mouthy, is she loud or is she a gossip?