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Requesting medical records

17 replies

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 09:45

Can you request medical records from the hospital.

My DP had an MRI scan on Sunday for slipped/bulged disc/sciatica- he's got a private consultation next Monday and we're trying to get his MRI results from the hospital so that the consultant can look at them. Basically to speed things up.

But we keep getting told conflicting things. The Nuffield say we have to try and get them but the NHS say the dr has to request them.

My DP has been bedridden for 5 weeks now and going private is our only hope.

Can he legally demand this MRI?

OP posts:
SecretDoor · 02/06/2021 09:48

I would ask the consultants private secretary to help and guide you as she will have come across this issue previously

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 09:59

We've asked! She says it has to come from the hospital or GP🤷‍♀️

GP says we have to request them, which we've just tried to do. Rang the hospital and they've said the consultant has to ask for them via email.

My DP is desperate. Surely if the MRI was in front of him on Monday he could make a decision there and then.

Hilariously the private consultant also needs the NHS referral letter from the GP. His GP hasn't even seen him just thrown drugs at him.

OP posts:
ChicChaos · 02/06/2021 10:04

Private consultations have always needed a referral letter from the GP in my experience. I've had private scans for private appointments and I did share the scans with the NHS but not the other way around.

Are you looking to have surgery privately?

TakeYourFinalPosition · 02/06/2021 10:10

You have to place the request to the medical institution that holds the information you want - so if you're trying to get the MRI, that'd be the hospital.

Hospitals tend to have different processes but it'll usually be on their website, or you can ask PALS.

There is no charge anymore, but they can take up to 40 days to return the information, and longer if it's "reasonable". You'd be incredibly lucky to get it before Monday.

The request can be refused, or information redacted/removed, if the data controller thinks it references someone else or might cause harm for the patient to see it.

Otherwise, you'll usually get telephone notes, lab results, letters, prescription charts and clinical notes... theoretically you can also get X-rays, but I've never actually know anyone to get X-rays included. I've had a number of MRI and CT scans; and have requested my notes from four different hospitals when I've moved house and wanted to make sure the new hospital had the correct info - and I've never had any MRI or CT scans themselves included. You might get clinical notes on them, if anything has been noted yet, but I'd check that would be enough for the private consultation - I've found they typically want to redo the test if they can't see the actual test results.

My DP is desperate. Surely if the MRI was in front of him on Monday he could make a decision there and then.

I expect that is true, but the chances that you'll have it by Monday are really slim, and the chances that you'll ever get access to the actual MRI seem even slimmer.... Google suggests they're not usually included, and that backs up my experience.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news... I've been through the process expecting similar before, and it was gutting when it took FOREVER and then the actual images I needed weren't included anyway.

RedMarauder · 02/06/2021 10:13

Can you request medical records from the hospital.
Yes under GDPR

GP says we have to request them, which we've just tried to do.
Yes because they are your hospital health records not your GP health records. Your GP practice is only responsible for the records they have on you.

Rang the hospital and they've said the consultant has to ask for them via email.
Each NHS organisation has their own way of how you ask for your medical records. It should be on their website e.g. www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/patients/your-care/health-records.aspx#na
The person who told you to contact the consultant directly gave you a short cut to getting them.

Ostara212 · 02/06/2021 10:18

OP was the scan done privately?
Sorry to say, even in 2018, it took me weeks to get a scan result from an NHS hospital.

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 10:31

No the scan was done on the NHS

He’s managed to remember (after being out of it on diazepam last week) who the consultant is and waiting for a phone call off his secretary. Hopefully she can request it.

OP posts:
Ostara212 · 02/06/2021 12:08

Hope you have some luck OP

The NHS seems to be so chaotic at the mo, I don't agree with it but think they might not release the image to you for a while.

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 12:11

He’s managed to speak to the consultants secretary at the Nuffield and told her he had an MRI on Sunday. She can now request that so the consultant can look at it on Monday and hopefully speed things up. Hopefully it also means we won’t have to pay for another MRI 🤞

OP posts:
BG2015 · 02/06/2021 12:15

She told him she emails and rings for scans etc and is just ignored a lot of the time so she has to chase things up.

I know the NHS are struggling but these are peoples lives. I noticed last night that my DP muscle tone is terrible, his legs are so thin. I've tried to encourage him to get up and move but he's in too much pain.

This is a man who I met at the gym and was a personal trainer in the past.

OP posts:
Ostara212 · 02/06/2021 12:19

To be clear, I am not defending the delays at all.

I really hope it all gets sorted soon.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 02/06/2021 12:52

I know the NHS are struggling but these are peoples lives.

I know. Waiting lists were bad before but they’re horrendous now, the effect on a lot of people’s quality of life must be off the charts. I am sorry.

I’d prepare to pay for a private MRI, if it’s possible. It seems silly when he’s just had one, but it sounds like time is of the essence, and you’ve got two standard working days until Monday.

I hope he gets the help he needs soon Flowers

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 13:04

@TakeYourFinalPosition

I know the NHS are struggling but these are peoples lives.

I know. Waiting lists were bad before but they’re horrendous now, the effect on a lot of people’s quality of life must be off the charts. I am sorry.

I’d prepare to pay for a private MRI, if it’s possible. It seems silly when he’s just had one, but it sounds like time is of the essence, and you’ve got two standard working days until Monday.

I hope he gets the help he needs soon Flowers

Mmm the quote he's had from the Nuffield includes an MRI so it's a possibility it will need to be done there.

He's self employed so doesn't get paid if he doesn't work. Plus 5 weeks lying on a bed isn't actually much fun for him or me.

OP posts:
Ostara212 · 02/06/2021 13:10

OP if time is of the essence and you can afford it, I'd get the private MRI done.

My mum has a private procedure coming up and I'm worried that delays might mean the government commandeer the private sector.

If the private place can do the MRI tomorrow or Friday, will they then be able to read the scan in time for the appointment?

TroysMammy · 02/06/2021 13:17

If you rang the surgery I work in, explain it was needed for a private consultation, provided we had received it then we would supply a copy. If it hadn't been received we would contact the radiology department for a copy.

Alternatively if the private hospital rang we would email it to them. We wouldn't be able to email direct to the patient but a known email address we can. I really don't know why some places make it so difficult for people.

BG2015 · 02/06/2021 19:10

He's got a copy of the referral plus a report from the hospital reporting the details of his MRI off his GP. It's very detailed. He will take that on Monday.

If they can access his MRI hopefully things will get moving.

OP posts:
Ostara212 · 02/06/2021 22:30

Fingers crossed for him.

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