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.

Thanks for range of views. I’m not going to leave the GP but hadn’t considered that.
Very helpful to know I can ask for an audit and place a restriction on it.
She’s mouthy so will be great as a gatekeeper. Not especially gossipy I don’t think, more don’t cross her. I just don’t want her looking at my information.

Of course she should not look but you won't know if she has unless she tells you herself or someone else tells you.
I would change to a different Surgery.

You'll have to move to another surgery if you don't want her to have access. I think yabu by the way.

@Number3BigCupOfTea

Do they delete your record if you leave?

No, not exactly. Your paper notes will be forwarded on to the new practice but your electronic notes are still viewable. However, this is even more regulated/audited. If you type in the patients name ,it will come up with a drop down box that the patient has left the practice and you have a choice of reasons why you're accessing their notes such as 'best interest of patient' , 'coroner/court' etc. Sometimes we do have to access ex-patients notes for medical or legal reasons but this is flagged up to the practice manager

Speak to the practice manager and ask to have your record changed to 'restrictive access', then none of the receptionists will be able to look at your records, but drs, nurses, secretary and other senior level staff can.

Yep I agree, move surgeries. My DS’ made friends with another kid from school, one of the first things mum said to me was, oh your family aren’t registered at the practice I work in then. How on earth would she know without trying to look us up? Awful nosy woman, thank goodness we were all registered elsewhere and the friendship didn’t last long. This was quite a number of years ago, hopefully things have changed since.

My issue would be with how many surgeries are running right now. To get a triage phone call the receptionist had to give that appointment on the phone - insisting on the reason for the call. Is that the case where you are? If so I would not want her to be the person who picks the phone up after queuing on the phone for ages!

@livebythecoast thanks

@Number3BigCupOfTea I don't want to be rude but since your posts to me are very rude: I'm sorry you struggle understanding what my post meant. I can't help you I'm afraid. Unless I paraphrase? In which case, the gist of my post to the OP was, 'I find it quite arrogant that you believe your acquaintance will mess her job up on account of you, a random school mum, just for the shits and giggles of looking your records'.

My friend is a GP at another practice.

I’ve long had suspicions that two of the practice nurses at my practice have been giving confidential medical information about me to a) a friend of theirs who is my employer b) their sister who is a very nosy acquaintance of mine. I won’t go into detail but it’s all far too coincidental for my employer and acquaintance to behaved in some of the ways they have without these two giving them info. People who do not work in the NHS have always poo pooed my concerns as paranoia.

My GP friend said given my examples she felt they’d both absolutely broke confidentiality and was as sure of it as me, she’d had similar concerns with one of those people in the past and as a result had stopped using any of the local GP practices for herself and her own family and had registered in an adjacent town where they know none of the staff instead. In her words “it’s supposed to be confidential but there’s nothing to stop them being nosy and disciplinaries around confidentiality rarely even happen these days.”

I’d move.

Most people take a job because they need the money and/or want to further their experience and skills. But it would be incredibly naive of anyone to assume that all employees within the health service are following all of the laws regarding confidentiality. There are good people and bad people in every job. People do access medical records without a clinical need to do so. It happened to me.

OP has a valid concern here.

I work at a surgery and we have a system where you can have it out on your record that you are not to be seen by someone, I think it means they also can’t view your info as access is blocked. Just ask for that x

Is there a particular reason why you think she would be interested in accessing your records?

In theory, yes as others have said, she could access them (although her job role may have some restrictions), but in practice it’s not often that you have time to sit browsing through records with no one else around.
Nor would most staff have any particular interest in doing so. We are all made aware it is a sackable offence.

If she did, no one would know unless someone made a complaint and it was specifically looked into.

I love this just move to another gp surgery - in villages or small towns their may only be a single surgery & or if more some surgeries are full to new patients

I'm a befriender to an elderly lady who is illiterate. She was having a benefit review by telephone and her family asked would I sit in on the call and assist her with the information. Her health centre had printed off a huge summary of their contact with her. It was more detailed than I would ever have dreamt of but there's no way anyone would want to sit and read through many of those.

@FourteenthDoctor

She cannot access your records without your consent

Utterly wrong. She can access notes without seeking your consent. You'll have signed an agreement that gp and practice staff can access notes. however to access your notes it’ll require a login and leave an electronic footprint

If she’s been indiscreet with information she’ll likely make a mistake and get caught out of she’s indiscreet
She could in theory use someone else login

You can request that she has no access.I used to work in a gp surgery and my dh and anyone I knew was put on restricted access meaning only certain people could see the files.Ask the practice manager.

I’m a GP and we have a few patients where certain people at the surgery cannot access the records because they are family or friends. Just let the practice manager know that you know this new person starting there personally and are uncomfortable with them having access to your records, it can be blocked on an individual basis. It’s not that unusual. It’s a real pain when it’s one of the other few GPs who are blocked, but less of a big deal when it’s one of the receptionists, it just means another receptionist has to deal with your requests for booking appts etc. I would also echo that receptionists have far less interest in nosying around in people’s records than you might think. We are all busy and stressed and rushed off our feet and just want to get the job done and go home. Nobody cares what’s in your records but I do understand why this might worry you especially if there is particularly sensitive stuff on your record.

@ViciousJackdaw

She may well have a gob on her but ask yourself this - why would she be the slightest bit interested in your medical records? What is she going to do, stand there at the school gates going 'Ooh, that KnowIWay, well don't breathe a word to anybody but she's low in iron! I know, shocking, isn't it!'?

Suicide attempts, STIs, domestic abuse and suchlike may be on medical records. It's not just about being low in iron or having hayfever!

I've asked the receptionist at my surgery to look at something on my records before and she's told me she doesn't have access to my records. She only has access to things such as blood results coming in.

Personally I think I would move surgeries if I found out someone I knew was working there and could gain access to my records.

@Mummyoftwo91

I work at a gps in the area of my dcs school and I would never dream of looking at anyone's record unless I had too, even then it's against the rules for me to ever dicuss it I would loose my job

Well done you but in the nicest possible way - so what? Is your point that therefore no one in the NHS would look at records they shouldn't do? Because that's really no the case and saying she would be found out apart from I suspect being untrue the damage is already done by then.

If I had real concerns like this I would move surgeries, why be constantly worrying every time you make an appointment?

Well as someone that works in a role that I can access peoples personal and financial information, I can safely say that it’s based on a needs must only basis and if it’s related to your role only.

We’d get fired if we were snooping just for the purpose of being nosey, it’s bang out of order. I assume the same would be expected of reception/surgery staff.

I would never discus things that I know about people my friends and I know because it’s none if my business and none if theirs. I wouldn’t dream of giving them ‘gossip’ about someone because if I go I know.

So she’s perhaps loud and bolchey but she’ll be fired if she tells other people private things

With some social services systems you can block access to certain people. You're meant to declare if you know someone and then your access is blocked.

Different but I'm a social worker and if we access a record without a real need (say a neighbour or a friend) we face disciplinary- The system is audited regularly and we are reminded of this often.

@KnowlWay YANBU. I would definitely not be happy at ALL.

The last 2 surgeries I have been registered at, have not allowed anyone to apply for jobs there unless they live 5 miles or more away. And they would certainly not ever have employed a 'school mum' from the local school, who would almost certainly know many people registered at the practice. I am shocked that this 'school mum' is allowed to work there.

I know many people say 'she won't nose and gossip because it's more than her job's worth yada yada' and yes she WILL be in the shit if she breaks the rules.' That doesn't mean she won't break them though!

I have known several people in positions of trust (doing admin at the hospital, and at the GP practice,) and they have gossiped about people they know (and me, and some people I know also know.) And that gossip has reached me.

A neighbour of mine told me that 'Jan the GP receptionist' said that Lucy at No 10 High Street, was pregnant, even though Lucy had made it clear to Steve, her husband that she never wanted children. He didn't either when they married 10 years ago, but now wanted kids, and Lucy was going to abort it!

I was gobsmacked that this woman had told my neighbour this personal information about Lucy.

There are several more cases I could name of 'confidentiality breaking,' and not just in GP practices and hospitals, but hotels too. One person I know who works for a hotel chain told me (some 5 years ago,) that Gemma who married Andrew in 2015, was in her hotel shagging another man.

People are meant to stick to the data protection rules. Many do. Some do not. Any gossip I have been told, I have NEVER repeated. But some people are natural gossips, and love a bit of scandal. So if they see something that they regard as 'juicy gossip,' they will blab...

I know someone who worked in housing some years back (in the noughties,) and she used to have access to peoples housing applications. She could see what benefits they were on, all their previous addresses, their financial situation, any personal sensitive information about domestic abuse, and marriage breakdown etc etc... And she occasionally gossiped about people. I would be MORTIFIED if some random acquaintance who I didn't like much - or even DID like - was able to access my personal, sensitive information.

As a pp said, if some people have had abortions, or IVF, or an STI, or something else personal and sensitive, the last thing they want is some random 'school gate mum' having the chance to access her records.

I would move practices - and bloody soon!

As a few posters have said, it's incredibly naive to assume that this woman won't have a nose at peoples medical records. Of course she bloody will! And it's unlikely that she will keep everything she sees to herself!