GP records question

[serenoa]

Please, can someone advise me, this is a genuine question on a very worrying matter, I'm not a troll. The question is, is it possible for someone with access to my GP notes to permanently delete information entered by a doctor at the previous surgery I was registered with? This info includes diagnostic, expert reports, and prescription details.

I have a copy of my GP notes for a certain period, which were obtained by my solicitor as evidence in relation to a claim against a third party after a road traffic incident. At the last GP appointment I had, with a doctor I had not seen previously, the GP claimed that certain information in that evidence bundle did not appear in my medical record. She was extremely hostile and defensive. I didn't ask to see my notes because I finally decided on the spot, after having considered it for a while anyway, to move surgeries. I don't want a new GP to know that I'm switching because of concerns about the previous surgery; I have a reasonable neutral reason if asked.

TIA for your help.

You are in the UK, I presume. All GP medical record systems have something called an audit trail. This means that stuff added later or deleted later is recorded as amended. The audit trail is not possible to amend, so if staff in your previous surgery have indeed interfered with your record then this should be visible.

The exception to this is AFAIK the document management system where scanned letters from specialists are stored in. I think stuff deleted there is gone.

The other aspect is that once you have moved from one practice to another much of this audit trail gets lost, I do not think it is transfered between surgeries. So the new surgery is unlikely to be able to assist you with this question.