Secretly Recorded by GP

[UPSETPATIENT]

I am seeking advice on a matter. I found out my accident that my GP recorded a telephone appointment without permission. I have complained to the practice and ICB, however they have not done anything. Does anybody have any advice or suggestions

Wow. Well ok fair enough.

You could just ask for face to face appointments rather than telephone appointments and not put yourself at risk of having no GP.

Yes. Absolutely do this. A good practice, as per the link I shared earlier, will support this. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable. I would imagine healthcare is very difficult without a GP. You’ve had a hard time on here and I absolutely agree with you but don’t lose out on primary healthcare when there is a work around. Good luck!

OP do you have a health professional you can trust to talk to about changing GP?

Whatever the circumstances surrounding your mental health and your PIP claim, it is likely that you will need GP care. If you have strong concerns around your privacy, it may be possible to ask your current or next surgery what could be put in place that you would agree to.

🙄🙄🙄

I think you should think very carefully before you leave your present practice and find another one. Your GP at least knows you, even though you don't like what has happened, and you need that sort of continuity and you will recover the trust in them eventually. You now know they record, so you can watch what you say when you consult them. A new practice would have you worried and stressed out, and you may not get a better service.

At the moment you are traumatised. You want it all to go away and start afresh, but that is not as easy to do as it sounds, It isn't just the GP practice you have to find. What will you tell another GP if they want to know why? You cannot say change of address.

Bear in mind also that your notes are not necessarily sent to the new GP. They may be sent to the Family Practitioner department and it could be some time before they end up with your new GP. That may make things very awkward for you because you would have to go through your medical history all over again.

There is also the point that most practices are full to overflowing, and you may have to settle for one further away, which would cost you more money than you can afford to pay. Some GPs do not make house calls either. If yours's does, you will be well advised to stick with him and patch things up. You may find that he has already done that, and will not treat you badly.

You just cannot afford to be stressed any more than you are now. Your health will undoubtedly go down. You could try a thread on here asking for people who have changed GPs and if it was difficult, before you go down that road.

I thought all gp calls are recorded. It says that when you call.

I think op does have a valid point, she wasn't told and it was an unexpected call, and the notes don't reflect the conversation.

I get this a lot, more so with hospitals. When I do ask for a copy of the phone conversation, compared to notes that misrepresent things or claim I said things I didn't, eventually they back down.

@UPSETPATIENT It might be different where you are, but where I am (Scotland) you have to be registered with a GP if you ever need to access physio, podiatry, equipment in the community, as it’s financed via the GP. You of course do not need to attend or engage with them, but certainly at my work you would need to be registered with one if you need to access these kind of services.

I actually asked my GP practice when I was dropping off a letter from my consultant. They seemed shocked that anyone would even think that consultations are recorded. They said that calls to reception are recorded, SOME calls from reception are recorded and it is announced as soon as the call is connected, but medical consultations are never recorded.

I am already open to services.

I am already open to services.

This is interesting.

To be fair to Op she didn’t know this and the practice doesn’t tell patients which isn’t right, and they need to make it clear to patients on the phone system and website. However some of the reactions are disproportionate and unreasonable in that people expect outbound calls not to be recorded etc, threatening HCP with making their own recordings etc

here is BMA guidance
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/ethics/confidentiality-and-health-records/patients-recording-consultations

https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/making-and-using-visual-and-audio-recordings-of-patients/recording-telephone-calls

I think OP should follow the correct protocol for raising an issue and not be dismissed but give the patient some reassurance about the systems in place. I don’t think OP should not have a GP

…that you accessed while registered with a GP practice?
You’re right actually, I don’t know a thing about you and am not sure why I’m bothering wearing my thumbs down when you made your mind up 15 pages ago. My advice to contact your local patient liaison service stands if you want to take it further, and I’ll add that it would be wise to discuss deregistration with any services that you access, before actually doing it, as it may actually stop access and will almost certainly disrupt any prescriptions you have.

Good luck to you, believe it or not most people involved in your care actually want to help you, and it’s a shame that your relationship with them has broken down so irreparably. I hope you find a satisfactory resolution.

Obviously not, but it has never bothered me. I think the OP has non-physical issues which would cause her to be more stressed, and that really has to be taken into account with comments.

Sometimes, depending on the illness, it could be very much in the patient's interest to have this record. A patient may be on medication which causes some forgetfulness.

I can confirm that I contacted the my local ICB. They advised they cannot get involved. I will still continue to receive the same level of care irrespective of registration status.

Has that helped you?

I would say there little I can do about situation but will report to ICO.

If you were making an application for a Pip benefit does the Dr need to consult with someone else to agree you meet the requirements for Pip? Also could this be to ensure potentially fraudulent claims are also recorded . Hope you get it sorted .

I am not disagreeing with you, because that is a very valid point, but reading the op's posts it seems her disability may not be physical and it is very difficult to know unless other medical people are consulted.

She would receive help from the charities for the disabled, such as Scope and Mind, but many people with non-physical disabilities find it very difficult to get employment, and they very often need as much help and care as the physically disabled. I think that is very often forgotten.

I think she has had enough stress, and hope that it all pans out well for her.

But has that alleviated any of the stress you have been through?

There is a lot of considerations to be made and taken into account with PIP applications. Claimants only fill in the form with details. The benefits agencies have to follow up on references, in the same way the employers would for job applicants, so it isn't easy for the medical profession to know exactly what to put without disclosing too much about their patient's condition.

I have been on disability for a long time now, but even that does not qualify me to give advice, because everyone is different. It is easier for me in a way because physical disabilities are obvious, and equipment needed can be listed, so claims are processed more easily.

If you do not want to post the results of you application, please send me a private message. I may not be able to do much, but I don't mind 'listening'.

They don't normally ask for the GPs opinion as what someone can do/needs, they just ask for medical notes.

They have their own PIP assessors - can be doctors/paramedics or other AHPs. This can actually include actual spying on you - theyll drop in/watch you take the kids to school etc to see if it matches up with what you tell them.

They make a determination themselves, the if you disagree with the outcome you can escalate.

I am not an expert in this area. To my knowledge, GP generally do not write letters to support PIP applications. Patient ares typically ask to do SAR to request their medical notes. The patient then send it to PIP. For the most part I don't think GP notes are helpful for PIP but they like to see it. In general, most PIP assessor will deny the person PIP but most appeal are successful. I was fortunate that I got medical evidence from the medical team. You generally got awarded for a period of time and then the award get reviewed so you expected to give medical evidence. PIP can contact the GP etc but that is rare in the my experience.

Just to add specialist team/secondary care will provide letters of support and answers the PIP question unlike GP.