To think we shouldn't need medical letters and doctors notes for things

[ChangedmyMindNotUsingMyRealName]

When we can't even get a doctor's appointment. Like, if the Government and associated bodies need medical evidence it should be an automatic system where they get it themselves

It depends what you're talking about. The fact is your medical records are meant to be read and interpreted by medical professionals and they take in your whole medical history, not just one thing. If you have a medical condition that's relevant to something and you need a medical letter then you're asking a doctor to speak to a specific condition and it's impact. Would you really want untrained people analysing your whole medical record and drawing their own conclusions? They're bad enough at that even when they do have specific evidence from doctors.

No I suppose not

I would not want just anyone in the entire government to have access to all my medical records.

Some things I agree

E.g. when people are off sick after a bereavement because they aren't ready to go back and they've exhausted the (often very minimal) company bereavement leave so no other option. I've never seen the same Dr twice at my practice so they don't know what my usual manner or emotion levels are like or how I cope - grief is so subjective they can't evaluate whether I "should" be able to work or not, so yeah in such cases it's just a waste of everyone's time, you should be able to just apply for a sick note remotely.

If after the first 2 weeks/month you are still struggling them it can be escalated to either your works occ health or a specialist grief/bereavement Dr to see what can be done to support you (or both working together) - e.g. short term antidepressants, referral for counselling etc. and/or workplace adjustments.

Your "usual" gp can't offer anything specialist either for grief or workplace adjustments so what does them signing a sick note achieve?

Yeah, no thanks…

If I’m signed off sick (which I’ve only been twice in my life, once following surgery and once following the death of my Dad) then I will provide the evidence required for that. Not a chance would I want my full medical history made available to ‘the government’ why on earth would they need/want to know anything else?

I read somewhere that one hundred years after our deaths all our private records are made public in archives

That's not true, certainly not true for all our records. Different medical records are kept for different lengths of time. Most records are destroyed after a certain period of time. This is in line with data protection and not keeping personal information longer than necessary.

The NHS has guidelines about how long records should be kept. Here are the guidelines for England https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/records-management-code/

Edited for typo

So do you think if a colleague fancied six months off work sick on full pay they should just be able to sign themselves off?

though I’m not sure actually a doctor just doesn’t do as they’re asked anyway. Guess if I saw my GP every month for six months and said I was too stressed for work they’d just keep writing a sick note. I’m sure I read an article by a gp saying this once, that they don’t have time or energy to argue with patients so just write a sick note when asked.

That's a relief I don't want my great grandchildren reading all my medical records for a school project or something

It just feels like I'm going through trying to get an appointment and then essentially asking what feels more of a favour than an obligation

I don't know if the DWP ever look at any of the medical evidence we are all compelled to supply when claiming PIP, ESA, UC etc.
But I'd much rather they expect you to supply something than waste man hours searching for evidence, which they could say they can't find. Or just cut you off as thats easier.
I always do think, well, you can ask them if you don't believe me? Kind of thing but chances are they won't and don't.

Why not? You'll be long dead. Maybe they'll learn something interesting about their family history. It might help you seem like a real person to them rather than just an abstract name. "Wow, Great-Great-Nanny Changedmymind had syphilis! She must have lived an interesting life."

@ChangedmyMindNotUsingMyRealName hospital records are generally only kept for 8 -10 yrs after death depending on which part of the uk u are in (apart from certain circumstances where they are kept a bit longer ) and most health care records are only kept for around 8 yrs after last treatment.

Lol. I don't know, people say that, but I just would be bothered by it. Some things are just private

I've imagined there being a profile with my passport photo all my private records, everything stupid I ever wrote on social media

I have social anxiety in case you can't tell

OP you are worrying yourself over nothing

There are practicalities that prevent it from working, but yeah it's a great idea in theory.

I'd love PIP to be a case of me just saying what's wrong with me and having someone able to confirm it from my medical records. And they would process it within a week!

I can dream.