Online Medical Records

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IrvineHimself

IrvineHimself

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Last week I got invited to join the new Ecomms service NHS-Lothian has started to roll out. As someone who is NFA, this is brilliant. Anyway, it got me thinking: I keep reading posts where members seem to have online access to their medical records. Does anyone know anything about this and whether or not it is currently available in Scotland? In particular: is it available for patients from the NHS-Lothian area and how do I sign up?
 
I think (therefore not at all sure) that anyone registered with the NHS in Scotland can get access to something called 'My Diabetes My Way' but in the whole of the UK its available via your GP but certainly where we live (smack in the middle of England) we can only see what our GP lets us see, which is our blood test results. Though we've both had shedloads of tests at hospitals so by accessing our NHS records they should be available - they aren't, to us. So my 50 years of diabetes clinic records and test results, I'm not allowed to see.

Similarly if I happen to be visiting Harrogate and have a heart attack or stroke and carted off in an ambulance, the hospital there can't see the tests carried out here in Coventry - and though our GP here can access the Coventry results, they can't access either the Harrogate ones, so are clueless about my heart attack or indeed the operation I had an another local hospital so when I tried to have the stitches removed after that - it was a slight uphill struggle to get them to do that! - offered me an appointment in 3 weeks time!
 
trophywench said:
I think (therefore not at all sure) that anyone registered with the NHS in Scotland can get access to something called 'My Diabetes My Way' but in the whole of the UK its available via your GP but certainly where we live (smack in the middle of England) we can only see what our GP lets us see, which is our blood test results. Though we've both had shedloads of tests at hospitals so by accessing our NHS records they should be available - they aren't, to us. So my 50 years of diabetes clinic records and test results, I'm not allowed to see.

Similarly if I happen to be visiting Harrogate and have a heart attack or stroke and carted off in an ambulance, the hospital there can't see the tests carried out here in Coventry - and though our GP here can access the Coventry results, they can't access either the Harrogate ones, so are clueless about my heart attack or indeed the operation I had an another local hospital so when I tried to have the stitches removed after that - it was a slight uphill struggle to get them to do that! - offered me an appointment in 3 weeks time!
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I can see all my GP records.
Hospital records are different, but I can see the hospital records in so much as if they have written to my GP, that is available on my file.
 
trophywench said:
we can only see what our GP lets us see
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And my GP surgery apparently has an incompatible computer system so I can't see anything until they change it. (They're not withholding the results: I can (and have) asked for printouts of results and they're fine doing that. I imagine I could get my full records in some way (I think we generally have the right to do that) but I've not tried that.)
 
There are a lot of headings one can click - but none of them are populated - hence I've never had an innoculation for anything (not even Covid) neither am I allergic to anything and we can't make online appointments. The instructions are to telephone at 8am or 1pm, but by 8am when you get through, no appts available that day (and they won't make any on another day except on that day) The reason there aren't any when you phone is because you can go and queue outside the door prior to 8am and all those people get priority over anyone on the phone. That's the way the GPs have decided because they are too busy so we're stuck with it. So a raging temperature - get out there in the cold and rain and queue until they open the door.
 
I requested my hospital records from my knee surgery and was amazed at the sheer volume of hand written stuff, the writing was almost illegible so no wonder mistakes get made and the Xray and CT pictures.
The GP is much more difficult to get anything, it's almost as if it is a secret.
 
IrvineHimself said:
Does anyone know anything about this and whether or not it is currently available in Scotland? In particular: is it available for patients from the NHS-Lothian area and how do I sign up?
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Hi, yes, just googled and it looks like you can IrvineHimself but it also is reliant on your GP practice having their systems set up, I suspect. It's your data, and you have a right to look at it.
Also, it should be possible to access your own GP and other health data by doing a Subject Access Request, which was part of the Data Protection Act, and has been put into the new GDPR legislation (I've had training as part of my job, based on legislation for England, I suspect there's something similar for Scotland, if it isn't exactly the same). They may charge you a fee for the SAR, it used to be £10 a few years ago, not sure if it still is.
 
trophywench said:
anyone registered with the NHS in Scotland can get access to something called 'My Diabetes My Way'
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Yes, I have found the site and bookmarked it, thanks. Haven't yet registered, but it says:
Sign up to gain access to your own test results, clinical letters and your treatment plan.
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So that looks like it could be interesting. I have got appointments on the 20th and 30th of May for the Diabetic Eye Clinic and Podiatrist. So I am hoping I will be on their records, but I am still waiting for the first appointment from the Diabetic Clinic. (Since they are triaging for the most urgent cases, I am hoping I don't hear from them for months.)

trophywench said:
but certainly where we live (smack in the middle of England) we can only see what our GP lets us see, which is our blood test results.
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That is discouraging: I remember when I had Bell's Palsy. it was just after I recovered from frozen shoulders, and presents like a stroke. I was obviously quite worried about it, and when I went to see the specialist and told him I had been doing "A bit of research", he visibly shuddered. Honestly, while, in a sense, I can sympathise, does he really expect his patients not to take an active interest in their various maladies.

travellor said:
I can see all my GP records.
Hospital records are different, but I can see the hospital records in so much as if they have written to my GP, that is available on my file.
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Now that is good to know, is that specific to the practice you attend?

While my Doctors, (and most of the nurses,) are really great, when I was getting bloods earlier in the week, the practice nurse, one I had never met before, was a genuine ogre. When I tried to grab a glance at my records, she actually turned the screen away from me!

I do not know how up-to-date my surgery is, It is not the most affluent and its clientele, put it this way: Around opening times, when the junkies are queueing for their scripts, they have a very affable, albeit unobtrusive security guard on the door to try and keep them calm.

Don't get me wrong, compared to some of the horror stories I have read on these boards, the quality of care I am receiving is definitely first class. But they don't have some of the frills of other surgeries. For example, my pharmacist, also first class, won't pick up my repeat prescriptions, which he does with other surgeries, and as far as an online appointments and prescription service, forget it.
 
I have pretty full access to my medical records.
I can see all consultation notes, test results, comments from professionals etc. More importantly I can add notes and comments to the record if I see something I don’t think is correct or accurate.
I can see all test results and vaccinations going back to birth.
 
Windy said:
I suspect there's something similar for Scotland, if it isn't exactly the same
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It won't be exactly the same, philosophically, we use Roman or civil law, albeit with a hefty dose of the principles of common or case law used in England and Wales. The differences can be very esoteric, but can have some surprising consequences.

However, paying £10 to access my own medical records seems a bit unjust

Leadinglights said:
The GP is much more difficult to get anything, it's almost as if it is a secret.
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Since they have the most contact with a patient, and noting there are some genuine loons out there, I suspect they do not want those same loons to see what they said about them. Ugh, I shudder to think of the conseqences
 
It's limited to our surgery - I hope! I know our eldest daughter who lives in Rugby, doesn't have the same trouble. Bit far from our house to falsify my address to her house!
 
IrvineHimself said:
Yes, I have found the site and bookmarked it, thanks. Haven't yet registered, but it says:


So that looks like it could be interesting. I have got appointments on the 20th and 30th of May for the Diabetic Eye Clinic and Podiatrist. So I am hoping I will be on their records, but I am still waiting for the first appointment from the Diabetic Clinic. (Since they are triaging for the most urgent cases, I am hoping I don't hear from them for months.)


That is discouraging: I remember when I had Bell's Palsy. it was just after I recovered from frozen shoulders, and presents like a stroke. I was obviously quite worried about it, and when I went to see the specialist and told him I had been doing "A bit of research", he visibly shuddered. Honestly, while, in a sense, I can sympathise, does he really expect his patients not to take an active interest in their various maladies.


Now that is good to know, is that specific to the practice you attend?

While my Doctors, (and most of the nurses,) are really great, when I was getting bloods earlier in the week, the practice nurse, one I had never met before, was a genuine ogre. When I tried to grab a glance at my records, she actually turned the screen away from me!

I do not know how up-to-date my surgery is, It is not the most affluent and its clientele, put it this way: Around opening times, when the junkies are queueing for their scripts, they have a very affable, albeit unobtrusive security guard on the door to try and keep them calm.

Don't get me wrong, compared to some of the horror stories I have read on these boards, the quality of care I am receiving is definitely first class. But they don't have some of the frills of other surgeries. For example, my pharmacist, also first class, won't pick up my repeat prescriptions, which he does with other surgeries, and as far as an online appointments and prescription service, forget it.
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No, my previous practice gave me access to all my records.
Before it was online, I requested hard copies of my blood tests, and got them printed there and then.
I've never had an issue looking over the nurses shoulder.
The only hiccup was when I transferred counties and doctors, the new system wasn't the same as the old, so my old data was put into an archive system, so it's visible to the practice, but no longer to me, unless I request a hard copy again.
This is test results, not my medical history, that is still live.
I did have to request full access, it's not automatic, and to be fair, I agree with the system.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect everyone to be able to react positively to reading possibly life changing medical records straight off the computer screen, so the doctors discretion should be in there.
Also, while I can see my results, notes, etc, they have to be approved by the doctor first, both so they are correct, and also to put a filter in, just in case it needs to be a face to face one day.
 
travellor said:
I agree with the system.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect everyone to be able to react positively to reading possibly life changing medical records
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Very valid point. On the other hand, many/most countries don't have a central health database, the NHS is almost unique in this sense. As a result, as a general principal, patient records belong to the patient, and, at the end of the day, it is the patients responsibility to ensure the efficient transfer of records when changing primary care physicians. Similarly, when seeing a specialist, getting an x-ray, or whatever, it is up to the patient to take them to their Doctor of choice.

Being completely honest, the system in other countries isn't usually quite as inefficient as the preceding paragraph suggests. But still, if you can afford it, there is quite a large consumer market in keeping centralized health records.

trophywench said:
It's limited to our surgery
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Noting the point that @travellor made, I think, especially in this country, as a general rule, there is a presumprion that everything should be secret, with free access being an exception rather than the rule.
 
So, I tried to sign up to My Diabetes My Way, and, since I use StreetWork as a c/o address, it didn't recognise the postcode. Fairly normal for the government, I have sent them an email and I hope they sort it out soon.
 
I signed up to Patient Access some time back, which is scarcely worth the effort as all I can do is see what Covid jabs I have had. I can't book appointments or see any medical records or test results.... "Sorry, your practice does not offer this service." is what it says under the different sections 🙄
 
My GP practice uses "System Online" for ordering medication and records. I have access but so far it seems that all that has been updated to it are my vaccinations including childhood ones. It has the option to view results and medical records but I can't access them and suspect this is because they have not been inputted into the system. I imagine that manually transferring patient records onto the system would be a mammoth task for practice admin and as others have mentioned it would need to be double checked by GPs to ensure that compromising comments and sensitive issues that might possibly lead to litigation or maybe even aggression from some patients, would need to be edited, particularly historic data when GPs would never consider that patients would ever be able to view it. I think software compatibility and security may also be an issue, but it may just be a simple one of workload in entering it on the system. I would like access but can accept that the logistics make it difficult and I can get whatever current info I need from the clinicians involved for my own knowledge and benefit now, so not a huge benefit for the amount of work it most likely entails.
 
I signed up to my diabetes my way and it took forever to come thu.

They send you out a letter but are only doing it in batches every few weeks.
I had to email them as i waited for way too long for mine (got lost in the mail apparently)
was re-sent, I had to sign and I could scan the form and email it back.

Got it sorted finally and I use my myscot login to access it all.

Can see my eye results, some blood results that are relevant to diabetes, all my past prescriptions, eye check results and foot check ones if they had actually bothered doing one thus far.
Not all appointments and letters show up on there but there's enough collective info for me to know what's going on with me that is related to my diabetes.

All I can do on my GPs one is order repeat scripts and see any GP appointments I have booked or have had.

I ask for a printout of my blood results if its more than what shows up on mydiabetesmyway.
 
@rebrascora - unless you have specifically requested your GP surgery to give you access to your records whether it is contained on System Online, Patient Access, or the NHS App - they are not permitted to allow you to see it - GDPR. Not everyone does actually want to know! - I find that unbelievable, just as I did a decade ago in a meeting I attended at DUK headquarters in London, when Barbara was head honcho. We wewre asked, quick round the table, if we wanted access to them and if so, why. The lady next to me was adamant that she didn't and was pretty startled and amazed with the rest of the attendees - or anybody normal - saying they did. Most of the reasons had already been voiced when my turn came, so I said All the things already said, but mostly because basically they are mine, after all!
 
I don't entirely see the test results as "mine".
I probably provide the least input into producing them.
I certainly couldn't make my own test results.
I don't provide any payment for them, there is no contract.
I don't agree what tests are done, occasionally I haven't even been conscious to agree.
I only see the results with agreement from my doctor, he could decide it would do more harm than good to let me see them, so I don't even have the right to decide I should see them, he does.
It's information about me, I do like to know these things, but at the end of the day, I see them a bit like the skin tags I once had removed. I didn't want to take those home either.
They can keep them safe for me.
 
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