Is there a quick way to get hold of medical records?

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We have spent 2 years back and forth with doctors and hospital for my DD. After the last miserable attempt of diagnosis we decided to pay for a private appointment.

At this appointment they have said they will make an immediate referral to London and we should have an appointment this week but they want me to get hold of a copy of the medical notes especially the MRI pictures.

I've emailed PALS for help but I don't imagine that I will be able to get anything from the NHS this quickly, am I wrong?

I think this is different to an access to health records request which you might do for yourself, because you are being asked to get notes for a medical professional. Are they willing to fax or email you the request? I would talk to the practice manager if they are notes at your GP surgery, or secretary to the consultant if it relates to hospital appointments. Good luck.

Thank you kitty it's the children's ward at the hospital that have the MRI images we need. Her other notes would be very useful though.

I didn't think about the consultants secretary so I'll make that my first call in the morning.

Fingers crossed for you

Perhaps they will email the files directly to the other doctor if you have an email address?

That's a good idea. The private doctor was going to get the referral typed up yesterday and said they would contact us directly tomorrow to arrange the appointment.

Maybe I should ask them? He did say I should try and gain copies to take with me.

I have the NHS consultants name here so maybe I could google for the secretary?

It feels like no one doing anything and now it's all a rush but that's a good thing.

I got my MRI results recently through a reception at the hospital. I asked at the imaging unit and then they sent me to where I needed to be, was all done in half an hour, might be worth dropping in to the hospital if you have time?

ask at the imaging department.
with dc's condition we had to do similar. we made the request at the archive (form should be downloadable on the hospital website).
we paid a tenner and took an empty dvd directly to the imaging department where we got the images there and then.

I’m surprised the private dr hasn’t emailed the hospital directly and asked for them to be faxed across. Not all hospitals will give out results directly to the patient.

If you phone the hospital and ask for the medical secretary of the consultant, they will put you straight through.

petal my experience with the nhs hospital is, that unless you stand directly next to whoever copies the files, it will only be done at a snails pace.
6-9 months is what they told me.
with the acute health of the patient at risk that delay is just not acceptable. neither is, imo, exposing patients to another lot of radiation if tests need to be repeated.

The secretary of the consultant should be able to either request a copy of the MRI films on a CD to be sent to the consultant or for the MRI films to be uploaded to their radiology system at the London hospital if they are compatible. The consultant will probably want to look at electronic pictures rather than actual pictures. This means they can also discuss them with their colleagues at the London hospital. I’m surprised they’ve asked you to do it rather than their secretary.

op word of warning, reviewing images is expensive privately. we paid close to 800£ for that. check if your insurance covers that.
(still worth it imo)

You might have to make a few telephone calls tomorrow as this is dealt with by a different department in each hospital. Explain to everyone you speak to that the images are needed for ongoing patient care and a consultant appointment this week. A lot of people request images for their own records and/or to share on Facebook (!!) so it might not automatically be dealt with urgently otherwise.

As others have said, there will be someone in the hospital who can just download the images onto CD. There might be a nominal cost but this is sometimes waived if it is for review by another hospital. You will often have to submit the request in writing.

I would call radiology (often there will be a separate "PACS team") and/or the MRI department directly. Someone there should be able to tell you who you need to talk to.

The consultant's secretary might be able to fax all clinic letters (etc) to you or directly to the private clinic. Your GP will also have copies of all clinic letters and test results.

Good luck.

I may have done the wrong thing before reading these replies. I emailed both consultants secretary teams and gave permission to email i,ages and records if possible. but I guess I need to visit them and ask them to download on to a cd, can I take a USB stick?

Sorry to sound so naive but this is all new to us so I really appreciate all the help

can I take a USB stick
possibly not.
mri scan are ridiciloysly large files.
in our case the imaging dep asked for an empty dvd.

I use Evergreen Life - a mobile version of all my medical checks etc. However it only holds past info if you’ve previously been at the same surgery you sign up at it with or you agreed to open her medical file or something.

As a medical secretary I would say that back in the day we used to be able to send through records to other consultants/hospitals/private sector etc.

These days we have to refer everyone on to our Access to Records Dept.

A medical secretary in my Trust would be disciplined for acting independently and doing so. Probably gross misconduct and the sack.

Thank you thenightsky at least I know this evening that my email is futile.

I wonder where the best place to start is? She only had the MRI done a week on Friday - 29th Sept.

There is something of concern found on the MRI scan and we need to move on with treatment. I really don't want DD to have another MRI scan when the images have already been taken.

There's no harm from any number of repeat MRIs but a wasted expense if the information is already available. You'll be able to make the system work but will probably have to be flexible and work the phones a bit when everything "opens" at 9am tomorrow. They should make it happen if the scan is required for ongoing care.

You can definitely get the MRI on a disc. We ask the consultant's secretary & pay £20 for it to be put on disc. Good luck with your second opinion - always a wise thing to do.

When something showed up on a breast scan I decided to switch to private for ongoing checks. I phoned the hospital department who had my image and I just picked up the disc from the reception. No charge, no fuss. I think they were probably glad to see the back of me so it left space for someone else!

That's what I'm thinking lazymum I hope it all turned out well for you

Not much luck today but I'll continue with phone calls tomorrow