UK medical records

[water rat]

Anybody had any luck in getting their records sent to France? I tried to get my records before we came here,but were told they are the property of the NHS. Now,8 years later my Doctor would appreciate a look. He told me it's difficult getting his UK patients records.

[woolybanana]

Somehow I understood that the patient has a right to have them these days. Ask the UK GP and see what s/he says

[Théière]

Absolutely Wooly,

Water rat you need to complete the paperwork and forward it to the Doctor or PCT.

http://northstaffslmc.co.uk/Documents/Consentform.pdf

[pitway]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Somehow I understood that the patient has a right to have them these days. Ask the UK GP and see what s/he says[/quote]

Mme pitway had a knee replacement a few years ago in the UK (one of which was badly done), it is now giving her problems, doctor here would like to see her original xrays for a comparison, efforts to gain copies have been met with they are lost and we can't find them, bye bye!! so don't hold your breath!!

Tim

[BJSLIV]

Its quite a normal procedure to release the GP notes. You can expect to be charged £50 if the records are still in paper form less if they are computerised.

[Jazzer]

When we left the UK in 2006, our doctor provided us with a hardcopy of our medical records, without fuss or charge.

[AnOther]

Ditto;

We paid £10 each for photocopies of our records, no fuss no bother.

PS: Off topic but for anyone applying for any sort of insurance where that headache you had last century but forgot to declare can somehow disqualify you from claiming for a real event, obtain and send a copy of your medical records with the application, not your fault then if they don't read them [;-)]

[Charly]

When I was working, I used to do this all the time. Medical records are YOUR medical records and you are entitled to copies. X rays and scan copies will possibly cost more than the GP records.  If  you or someone else , like your current Doctor, is writing on your behalf  to obtain your records, then you will always need to provide a signed authority so that they can be released.  Your records cannot just be passed on - even to you - without your signed authority to release them.  You need to send something very straightforward showing your full name and current address, date of birth, NHS number and last address in the UK, then state something like " I, (name) , hereby authorise that copies of my complete medical records be forwarded to (me, my Doctor, lawyer or whoever) at (address) and I undertake to be responsible for the costs of providing copies of these records.

It is probably a good idea to firstly telephone your old surgery in England to establish where your records are ( because after you have lived 3 months abroad they should ideally be returned for storage to the local PCT  - shortly to be abolished!), and wherever these are located, you will need to find the address to which you send your signed authority and also to establish the approximate cost of the copies (to avoid being surprised by a demand for a large sum).  You will probably be asked to enclose the sum with your letter of authority. 

Many surgery staff (and sometimes Doctors)  will try to fob you off with nonsense, this is why you need to sound assertive and always need to put something in writing and, if necessary, chase it up.  Here in France, I obtained a full set of medical records for my elderly Mother not very long ago and, on asking for information directly from an Eye Surgeon on her most recent treatment, a polite letter to the Hospital department elicited a very helpful response from the Surgeon involved.   It's not difficult......go get'em!![;-)]