who do I contact to get a copy of the notes from my elcs?

[hazeyjane]

I had ds 2.4 years ago, he is to be involved in a study into a genetic condition he may have and in the questionnaire there are several questions about the birth.

It was all a bit of a blur to me and dh, as I was in a bit of a bad way and then ds was in distress after being born.

I would like to obtain a copy of the notes and have looked on our hospitals website, but can't find where to get them from.

Perhaps try the Patient Advice and Liason Service. On my phone so can't link for you. Good luck.

Yep, PALS for your local hospital is who you need. A google search will do it.

Thankyou so much, will get it sorted.

I did this a few weeks ago and received my notes yesterday! I contacted PALS and they send me a form to fill in and told me how much it would cost (£39!) and once I sent the cheque in I got my notes. I'm waiting for a moment of peace and quiet to go through them!

Jeez, I can't believe we have to pay for our own notes!

Photocopying costs, doncherknow! I've quickly read through mine with DH and its totally worth it, I didn't remember the consultant coming in to see me at all, and I didn't remember seeing flashing lights either! They did make a mistake on the notes though, they said DSs head came out ten minutes earlier than it did so it looked like there was a 13 minute gap between the head appearing and his body coming out, and it was only 3 minutes ( which was more comfortable for all concerned!)

You need to make sure you specify whether you want a copy of your own notes, your DS's notes or both.

Trusts do charge for copies as it takes ages to photocopy even a moderate sized set of notes. This task is usually done by someone in the Legal or Health Records Department and is very often one of the tasks which is not properly resourced!

hazeyjane Just for info, although the notes are about the patient they belong to the Trust.

Pals.

Failing that, my solicitor did it for me, they didn't want to hand them over due to the bodge they made of it. Took ages and lots of nasty letters.

I know it is fair enough that we should pay for them. It is just a cost we could do without, but we have to get them and that is that.

It is frustrating because I really don't want them,I want to put that day behind me, and concentrate on what we have to deal with now, but there you go. I had a birth counselling session arranged by the mw, not long after having ds, and was so thrown by the fact that it was a meeting with the consultant and the surgeon (who I did not expect to see again!) rather than an actual counselling session that I don't remember a single thing they said!

That is interesting about 2 sets of notes, i guess it is actually ds's notes I need to see then as the main thing I want to check is whether the cord was around ds's neck. I remember this happening, but dh doesn't. I suppose this would be in ds's notes.

I got mine free because I asked within a set time of it being done x

Oh and when I told my solicitor friend, she advised to ask for a second copy in case they left anything out of the first. I'm not going to but it's a sensible suggestion x

I think I may have missed the boat, 2.4 years later!

Those notes do make for good reading. I was lucky enough to be able to see mine, when I went in for a blood test and scan at the hospital when I was pg with dd2. They just gave me them to sit with. I had a good look through them, as wasn't 100% clear on what happened with dd's umbilical cord as it was extremely short, and wanted to know the length. I nearly hd a heart attack as it was only 15 CM. She could have been smothered at birth :( luckily all was fine, apart from the retined placenta. No problems with dd2 Phew!