Error on patient record. WWYD?

[trainedopossum]

If you had an error on your patient record, 1) what would you do about it and 2) if you notified them what response would you expect from your GP?
The note "Non-organic psychosis in remission" keeps appearing in my online record at random intervals, not related to any contact I've had with the surgery. I have no history of psychosis nor substance misuse.

I had a result registered on my NHS record which was not mine. I emailed the surgery and it was removed the next day

I'd notify them in writing and ask them to explain why it was there.

Response 1) mistake, sorry rectified 2) yes you have it....did you not know

Lol yes this is why I want it sorted, because it potentially renders me unreliable.

There's a secondary issue which is that they keep asking me to take a MH survery based on having a (non psychotic) MH crisis over 30yrs ago, well before I ever registered with this surgery so this was not something they dealt with themselves. I wondered if it had somehow got tangled in that matter, like they tried to add an update to the record and entered the wrong code or something.

I emailed them in February, got a quick reply from the manager and nothing since. I've just emailed again requesting an update.

I did the same although took about 4 days

I was wrongly coded as having gestational diabetes, which was a bit of a shock when I saw it added on many years later. I got in touch and the GP called me and he spent a while searching my notes for any evidence of GD (I mean I never did the GTT when pg so how could I be) then when he was happy it was deleted off my record.

Yes, you need to get this taken off, otherwise it could invalidate travel insurance and your driving licence, if it is perceived to be true and undeclared.

I would push them further to have it corrected.

I had to do similar with my old GP when I was pregnant when a serious issue during a pregnancy kept being mentioned - somehow the issue my mother had while pregnant with me had ended up in my notes. They think it got muddled in the paper notes and then just included when they were digitised.

Yes I’ll reply on that basis. I emailed again and to be fair they do always reply quickly but nothing seems to have been done since I flagged it in February.
I hadn’t thought of it as a problem for insurance but I thought about the risk of going in Kafkaesque circles if I were ever to end up in hospital and was being held on the basis of being delusional.

Half the time I think they make stuff up so they can get specific funding for certain things. i'm sure they get extra funding for mental health patients, diabetics etc.

I'd check that out. I might even be brazen enough to ask them has it been left on your record so they can claim an extra patient for the funding. 😬

I seriously doubt this. I’m sure there’s an audit trail/quality assurance process that the practices need to follow to qualify for funding

That does seem weird. Especially If nobody ever said anything to you about thinking you could be suffering from it. Not that you'd have it without realising? I guess some people might.
Hopefully they'll change it as soon as you tell them.

If it keeps appearing they need to investigate why. Put a complaint in. You also have a right to rectification via gdpr legislation. The ICO website will have more details

Mine kept saying I have asthma, I don’t. Had an inhaler once when I was 5 for pneumonia
they didn’t take it off even after letters and years of asking so I turned up to an asthma review to a very bemused nurse who did a peak flow and announced I didn’t have asthma
that worked

It’s funny, I used to work with people with serious MH problems including psychosis and I’m not unfamiliar with it or feel like it could only happen to other people. But the fact is I’ve never presented with symptoms or been diagnosed with it.
It’s got me on the back foot because to paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies I would say that wouldn’t I? 😁
I was treated for depression (years ago) and have good self-awareness, my version of events has never been called into question. Feeling defensive already! 🙈

Thank you. I’ve asked for it to be addressed as a matter of urgency considering they’ve done FA since Feb but will look at complaining if get no joy.
My travel insurance costs an absolute fortune and I spend a lot of time in the US so I need it sorted.

When I was pregnant a few months ago I had a phone call from the genetics department calling "about my referral to them due to my baby being at high risk for Spina Bifida".

Cue panic... "OMG what do you mean?? Do you think my baby might have Spina Bifida??"

"Yes... you told us there was a family history of Spina Bifida with multiple family members affected so you have been referred to us at the genetics team"

"No I didn't, I don't know anybody with Spina Bifida... I did mention my family has a history of Scoliosis? Is this what you mean??"

Cue awkward silence 🙄 completely unnecessary referral and the hospital made a mess of my hospital notes. I changed hospitals after that as I lost trust in them. Even now there are some details on my NHS app I don't understand or relate to

Jesus!

I once picked up my prescription and was given an extra bag with HRT and oestrogen cream. Being 26 at the time, it seemed somewhat strange. Spoke to the GP practice. It seemed the GP had kept my electronic file open when the next patient came in, and just kept typing and prescribing!

When I saw my electronic records, I apparently used to chew 2.3kg (5lbs) of chewing tobacco A DAY!!!! I've never tried it, have no idea, but surely that would be an excessive amount, even for a seasoned chewer??? 😕

i worked out it correlated with the date I stopped smoking regular cigarettes, 20yrs earlier. It was somehow an error from a locum I saw who was unfamiliar with their system and coded it wrong, getting the date confused with the amount I allegedly chewed. In my case, when I was seeing my newer, regular GP I mentioned it. He did question me several times, whether I'd perhaps forgotten I used to chew tobacco, which I was adamant I have never tried! He changed the record in front or me.

You'd done the right thing OP by contacting the practice manager. If they won't respond to email. I'd follow up with snail mail or trying to make an appointment to speak to them. If no response then a complaint. How awful for you. I assume next step might be your MP, but not 100% sure if there are others to do. Best of luck.

Exact same thing re gestational diabetes. I had pre eclampsia but not diabetes. Eventually got this sorted out

Argh, don't worry! Just because it says it doesn't make it true! It's good to see the funny side though. As you know real psychosis is no joke. X

https://www.gponline.com/practice-manager-jailed-stealing-700000-gps-fund-gambling-habit/article/1590850.

@CurlyhairedAssassin there might well be other times it happens... @cryinginthechapel

When I was about 22 weeks pregnant with DD2, I received a letter from the HV congratulating me on my healthy new arrival and asking me to phone her to arrange the 10 day visit.

I phoned. Her response "oh goodness, are you sure about that?" I thought I could hear giggling in the background.

I replied "Yes, he or she is kicking around at my bladder as we speak!" At that point I definitely heard laughter.

Obviously an innocent and harmless mistake though, I realise. If I was wrongly recorded with a serious illness, it absolutely would not have been funny.

What a lot of rubbish.

The practice manager got in touch to say that the entry was made in the hope that the ‘in remission’ bit would put a stop to a MH questionnaire that kept popping up in reference to some anxiety/depression I had in 1998.
It seems as though no one knows how to remove it.
She has ordered all my paper files(!!!) which I only know because I saw it on my online patient record.
So because I didn’t fancy a total stranger occasionally ringing me out of the blue to discuss the worst period of my life which occurred 27 years ago, now a different stranger is trawling through my paper records to, idk, try to prove a negative?