De-registered patient and medical records

[Pseudonym99]

If I am no longer registered at a GP practice, where would my medical records be kept?

Maybe OP wants a tattoo on her chest that says she mustn't be treated by NHS if she arrives at an A&E unconscious.

The NHS would love to keep these issues hidden

Do you have evidence to support this claim?

"The other side of the coin is this whole situation can lead to patient withholding information this can be clinically dangerous. This is a bigger risk than fraud."

It's their risk to take though, isn't it?

"The NHS doesn't understand what confidentiality really means. The moment they shout out your name in the waiting room, or put it on a screen that is visible to the other people there, they have breached your privacy."

My surgery has thick glass between us and receptionists (because patients are so bad, you see) so you have to shout what you want in front of everyone. Impossible to get through on the phone.

Some patients can be pretty bad actually. Threatening, abusive, violent.

" what is the reason the op wants to start a whole new record ???"

None of your business.

"The NHS bangs on and on about patient confidentiality but can't deliver. "

Do they still have notes at the end of the bed and consultations hidden only by a thin curtain?
I believe they've worked on mixed wards though, which is a step in the right direction.

OP says it's not to get lots of duplicate prescriptions. Well, she would say that... wouldn't she, if she is lying, then she'll lie to everyone about the real reasons.

Yes we do. DH got a Panorama programme pulled about some of these issues back in around 2007.

"British expats living overseas for more than three months are entitled to 'immediately necessary' treatment from a GP as is any visitor."

Yes, but many go for treatment that is not 'immediately necessary'. As I said, they're probably clamping down on that though.

"Or you can request online access to your medical record which is free."

How far back would the online access go though and would you have something to take away with you or just be able to look at them?
I suspect that if I wanted my childhood records I'd have to pay for copies.

"Some patients can be pretty bad actually. Threatening, abusive, violent."

Yes, I live in a deprived area where it's nearly impossible to get an appointment so I can understand their frustration. Is that a reason for my having to shout my personal business across the surgery though?

To get your full records you need to do a Subject Access Request to every NHS organisation including NHS Digital.

Do you have evidence to support this claim? I found this from 2007 which shows DH responding to a Panorama programme but you, presumably, have access to evidence of another programme?

Your name is personal business? It's on the electoral roll, I imagine, & that's a public record for a start.

Online access - summary information dating back to birth should be available. So if you had your tonsils out aged 8 that would be there but a copy of the letter from the surgeon to your GP probably wouldn't be available to view.

Some people have a massively inflated opinion of how interesting they are to other people! STD.., I don't care. Dodgy sexual behaviour with multiple partners.., I don't care. Verrucas .., FFS... I don't care.
Get a job. Find something else to worry about.
Seriously, look at Aleppo and then give yourself a hard slap. That is all. You are boring me.

Or you can request online access to your medical record which is free

How far back would the online access go though and would you have something to take away with you or just be able to look at them?
I suspect that if I wanted my childhood records I'd have to pay for copies

It is only a summary copy ie: Date, practitioner, coded entry, procedure, result etc. It is good for test results. Mine goes back to where the surgery started putting things on computer (about 1990 onwards) but is very sketchy for the first 5 years or so. There are no scans of letters from consultants, or physio or recommendations of what to do with unusual test resuls or anything it says something is scanned but it does not say what they are.

At my GP surgery when it's your turn to go in your name flashes up on a board. I hate it. At one time it used to have your title, so I would see Miss Knickers flashing up on the screen which I felt was a breech of my privacy. The fact that your name is called out or obvious to others in the waiting room means that someone may recognise your name and know you've been to the GP. If any member of staff at a GPs surgery acknowledges or disclosed that someone they know has been to the practice that is a breach of confidentiality and could result in disciplinary action.

Yes not that Panorama programme another one. Emailed apologises etc

So what happens in the pharmacy when you go to pick up your meds? If you live in a community, people will know some of your business. That's life. You're not that interesting. Live with it or become a hermit. Seriously, no matter what medical stuff there is going in, you're not very interesting. Ciao

It's not about whether you're interesting or not? Your right to privacy is being eroded at every turn. The OPs example raises some interesting points. To paraphrase Edward Snowden, arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

fakenamefornow I would be interested to know why you feel it is safer to buy medication on the internet (where it isn't regulated) than having a GP prescribe it for you thus allowing you to have regular health checks, even if it means allowing him/her access to your medical records

I know it's unsafe to buy drugs online and not be under medical supervision for my asthma. I don't want anybody knowing about a particular thing on my medical records though. I spent years and years thinking about this for hours every day, it has caused me enormous distress. I am largely over the event itself but do not want anybody to know about it and can't sit across a table from somebody with this in front of them on a screen. I am also friends with a lot of doctors one of whom works at my catchment practice it I were to be registered anywhere. I have tried to find a solution to this, there is none.

I have largely come to terms with the fact that I won't be able to have a GP if I don't want them to know about this entry. It's unfortunate for me but that's just the way it is. I see it as I sort of chronic medical condition that might shorten my life but hopefully won't. As I said upthread the fact that I don't have access to a GP has probably actually prevented me getting diabetes.

OP, is this because a GP has mentioned something they have read on your files when you visited them - that hadn't been raised with them but another HCP? Because this sounds awfully familiar.

Yes, I'm sure a very similar thread was here before. Can't remember details tho.