Deciphering deceased mum's medical records

[shancio]

I was hoping for some advice from a kindly fellow mum ….I requested, and have just received, my deceased mother's hospital records.

I wish to get a second opinion on something in her records entirely for personal reasons (I have no intention of taking up any kind of action against the NHS) - however I have no idea where to being /how to decipher the scans and consultant's notes.
I'm hoping someone out there has experience of a similar situation and perhaps some ideas/advice with regards to people in the field whom I could perhaps approach privately to review my mother's records. Many thanks in advance.

Ask your GP to recommend someone. If she had unusual medical issues it might require someone with a specific background. If not, a good RN should be able to go through it with you.

Sorry about your mum, and I hope her records help give you closure on your loss.

Thank you, that's kind of you to respond.

Do you want the second opinion in writing? You'll struggle to find someone to do that as they won't be indemnified. Most likely a private doctor who does medico-legal work as they'll have the right insurance

Sorry to hear you have lost your mum. Maybe you could try and make an appointment to see your mums gp, we did that and it was very helpful.

No doesn't need to be in writing but that's a good point. Thanks for the advice!

Thank you so much retirednow - I wasn't really sure if the gp would want to see me in case I was about to start pointing fingers but it might be worth a try. TBH its the brain scans that I really want a second opinion on so it's definitely a specific skill set that I'm looking for

A lot of brain scans will have what they call incidental findings, eg things they happen to notice which probably aren't doing anything much. Like some general atrophy or small old infarcts. I'm happy to help with a bit of general info if you want to pm me but obvs couldn't give you any specific advice