Transfer your nhs file from England to Scotland - Edinburgh

[OrElia25]

Hi all,
can anyone please share their experience transferring their NHS medical file from England to Scotland ? Was it complicated or long ? Not sure if location makes any different but would be from greater London to Edinburgh.
DH has medical condition with prescriptions he can’t stop so trying to assess how to do this.
Thank you for your help.

You’d be best to speak to the practice you are leaving and the practice you are moving to for advice. My friend just did the Scotland to England move and her gp wrote her prescriptions to tide her over the move for a couple of months. England and Scotland have totally different GP notes systems.

Hate to tell you this but absolutely none of my NHS files made it to Scotland. Just had to start again with it being totally empty at age 39.

Best bet would be to make an appt with new GP and go through all your medical history and make sure anything important is put on your new file.

Just ask your GP practise for a copy of your records, you might need to pay a small fee of £10/£20 and then give them to your new practise.

It takes months for records from England to arrive. Sometimes we never got them. Before they leave England get a print out of your medication and a summary of your conditions and take it to the new GP. Also you will still have access to the NHS app in England after you leave as you won't be deregistered until you register with the GP up here. So bring that in.
Used to do this occasionally when I was working. Also when coming up bring as much medication as you can some areas of Edinburgh have a lot of list closures and allocations were taking over a month. I think it's improved slightly having spoken to ex colleagues recently.

@OrElia25

When are you moving to Edinburgh, OP?

Do you know in which part of the city you will be living?

GP and hospital records were different

When I registered for a GP they asked for the previous practise and things happened smoothly - no problem with my repeats

The hospital records are different - when I had a mammogram here they didn't have my old scans but I gather they did get hold of them when I mentioned it - they took the hospital details as I really wanted to avoid another "first scan " recall

In 1 month - DH has his prescription renewed for just under a couple of months after the move hopefully should be ok.
i think we will be in catchment of Morningside gp practice so was going to have us registered there.

When you register, the GP records should be transferred electronically. However, it can take time for your registration to be added to the new surgery’s stream, and for the records to be transferred.

Before you move, see if your gp will give your dh’s two months of medicines. Also, ask for a copy of your records- they should be able to print a summary out, plus ask for a copy of your prescriptions. Photocopy them so you have a record, and then hand them in to your new surgery.

If you run out, a pharmacy should be able to do an emergency supply. Show them evidence - old box, prescription request form etc. but allow plenty of time. They may want to contact your old surgery to confirm the details.

It is exactly the same as changing doctors in England. It takes a few weeks.

If you know your new home postcode you can check your GP. I can recommend St Triduanas at Moira Park if you are in catchment. nhsl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=b57f309988eb4efcaa997fb2c8906454

You don’t have a single ‘nhs file’; different parts of the NHS will have different files and probably all on incompatible systems.

Get your GP to give him a print out of his medical history and medication. They should be able to do that quite easily.

He can just make an appointment at his new GP within the first few weeks of registering to go through his medical history and any medication needs. That should be enough to tide him over until his GP notes get transferred.
Hospital notes don't get transferred between health boards, even in Scotland

I moved from Scotland a year ago - still no hook up with our Scottish records and it's been a nightmare re my children's vaccination schedules .

If you turn up at your GP with a set of paper notes at best they are likely to be scanned in as a PDF. No one will go through them to enter it into the relevant sections of an electronic record.

We are registered with a GP practice just south of Morningside and a close relative is registered in Morningside, Edinburgh. Both practices are excellent and highly rated for patient satisfaction.

All the family will be asked to attend an appointment to register, blood and urine tests taken, and asked to state health conditions and prescriptions. Any issue with notes can be discussed then.

I work in a England surgery. You can ask your surgery for a print off of your summary to include medications you take and your vaccine history. This then can be inputted correctly while they wait for the paper records. Ask them for a couple of months medication too so you're not left without.

Blood and urine tests won’t be taken unless there is some indication for them.

Blood and urine tests won’t be taken unless there is some indication for them.

@PuffinCliffs Our experience was that they were taken. We were told this was standard for our practice.

None of my family's have made it so far. Two years and repeated prompting from Scottish GP. I'm considering a GDPR complaint, but not sure if it's an issue that would fall under that.