Has Anyone Accessed Their Medical Records?

[barefoot]

I know this info is 'out there' and I just (!) need to research it but my brain is so foggy at the moment and the whole subject is stressing me out a bit, so I wondered whether anyone here just knows the answer to this and can briefly and simply sum it up for me :-)

I'm considering making a request to access my medical records. If I decide to do it, ideally I'd like a copy of everything that I can look through on my own - not to have to go and sit in my GP surgery while someone there watches me as I go through it.

The main things I want to see are letters etc between my GPs and various consultants/specialists over the years - particularly when I was in my teens. Who I saw, why I saw them, what they did, what the results/outcomes were etc. Some of these were consultants I saw on the NHS and others I saw as a private patient.

I'm realising that I have so many gaps in my memory around quite a lot of medical stuff. I know I saw Dr whoever....I've no idea why... I know I had various procedures...I've no idea why or what the outcome was... There are a few things that are really baffling me and there are a few reasons why that matters a lot to me. So, I'm thinking that the answers will be in my file. And some of those answers can also probably really inform the work I'm doing with my therapist.

So... (sorry, rambling - I did say my brain was foggy!)

- Is it easy to get this access?

- Will I be able to get a copy of everything?

- Will it just be notes GPs have made or will all the stuff from other consultants also be there?

- Does anyone have experience of accessing their medical notes for the same kind of reasons as I'm thinking of? And, if so, how did it work out for you? I guess I'm seeking answers to fill the gaps in my memory and to ease the huge confusion I have around a few things (including my trauma). But I also know that this could just open a can on worms, which could make things more confusing. Or even that perhaps I'll end up in a position where not knowing was better than knowing?!

Thanks for any info/insights/views anyone can share - and apologies, I know this is lazy because this stuff must all be online. Everything just starts sliding out of my head when I try to properly look into it...

 

[Ocean5]

No worries Barefoot...brain fog.

No experience in UK, but in US it depends on state. One state I was refused copy of basic blood test (wtf.) Another U.S. doctor appreciated bring in all medical records I had copies of, and prevented more useless blood test already performed (another state.)

I'm sure from last State if I requested I could get records from psychiatrist. But she kept bad notes. She'd read some notes to me, and very inaccurate. Even her scripts where inaccurate. Told to take a benzo twice a day, bottle said take at night. Yet her notes she read to me said, "take as needed." Very frustrating. Anyways, stopped seeing her.

Best of luck, but don't always trust records. Some of these doctors need doctors themselves.

 

[Lucycat]

My understanding is that seeing it is one thing. Getting copies is different and I think will cost again. I could be wrong of course ;)

 

[barefoot]

@Lucycat yes, I'm sure getting copies would have an extra cost - I guess it's quite an admin task for some poor person!

The thought of going in to the GP surgery and being supervised as I look through stuff...it's not a thought that feels very good! So if I could get a copy - even though I'd have to pay more - which would mean I can go through it in my own space, in my own time, stopping when I need to, not being watched... I think that feels much more manageable...

I did pop in to the doctors yesterday to ask - they were very nice and tried to help but apparently no one had requested it before so they weren't completely sure. And by that time, I just wanted to get out! Maybe I'll drop them an email..

 

[jaccat]

I've done it. I got my doctors notes from my GP surgery. I just went in there, told them I was interested, and it went from there. It was a few years ago and I can't remember the exact process but I know I had to make a formal request- I may have written a letter, to the manager of the surgery. There is a process and a fixed fee. At the time it was £50. They accepted my request, then a while later I got a message to say they had them waiting at the surgery. I went in to reception. They handed me a big brown envelope, and that was that.

A few points- if you want hospital records you have to make a seperate request to the hospital concerned, and pay a seperate fee. You won't get 'all' your records, just the ones your GP's hold.

You don't need to give a specific reason. They are, after all, notes about you. I just told them I wished to fill in a few blanks from my past, which was kind of the truth.

They asked me what period I wanted covered. I seem to recall the fee was the same whether I wanted a year or twenty, but I guess it made a difference to whoever was collecting the information!

Don't be surprised if, when you get them, you come across a few surprises! One or two of my doctors were a bit too honest at times.

Best of luck.

 

[Friday]

When I lived in the UK (awhile ago), one had to hand carry their records from one surgery to another (when moving, or changing surgeries). Ditto, one had to bring their hospital records to the surgery, they weren't just sent over. In the US, they get leery of patients losing records (although they're still your records/ you have total right to them), so doctors offices and hospitals prefer to fax, mail, or messenger them, and many outright have policy against patients even touching the originals (no lie, some patients have eaten them on the spot, or otherwise attempted to destroy them, which is huge liability for the hospital, they're required by law to keep records of all patients seen for 10 years). So $20-$50 will burn you a CD of all of them, or $1 per page if you want copies (My sons file is over 1,000pp. Yikes!).

The UK was much more trusting. Hand carried between surgeries, and if you warned to run copies? Here you go, just bring them back when you're done (and off I went to the local copy shop). IDK if they're still that trusting. Policies varied slightly between surgeries, back then. Suspect that's still the same.

 

[Mit]

Social services forced me to give them access to my medical records. So I decided to see them for myself as well. I had to write a letter to my gp practice manager, and then arrange an appointment to go see them. I was given the file and left in a room on my own to read them. I also asked for copies, the cost wasn't excessive from memory. For me reading the records was quite an emotional experience, and I discovered some things I hadn't previously known. But I'm glad I did it. It helped me make sense of some things. Hope this helps.

 

[Anarchy]

Haven't built up the courage to go through with it yet.

I Have a hole in my skull in the right place for a lobotomy. I'm not ready to see if that is what it is from.

The only thing that freaks me nearly as much is genital mutilation, and I know that that did happen.

 

[barefoot]

Thanks for the replies...it's churning a lot of stuff up just reading the thread... I'm feeling quite teary! Not in a bad way - what you're all sharing is very helpful. More just in a way of...yeah...there's a lot of emotional stuff tied up in what may or may not be in the file.

I want to know, to gain intellectual clarity/certainty around some things. But it also sounds like a potentially profound experience digging in and finally seeing... I'm not sure whether I'm really ready for that... I don't know. I don't want this to be another thing where I convince myself I'm fine and that, rationally, it's good to know and that I can handle whatever I find. And then it all majorly blows up because I've gone so far into denial about the possible emotional impact...

Hmm...definitely some things to think about...

Thanks again...I'm going to revisit this thread tomorrow when I might feel a bit less emotional about it and more able to process some particular points!

 

[barefoot]

Thanks @jaccat - all really helpful info. Hmm...the thing about what records are held at GP and which are held separately at hospitals...I'm assuming that if a GP referred me to see a consultant/specialist, they would have that referral letter on my file. And that they would have whatever correspondence the consultant would have sent back in terms of any test results, diagnoses, information about further treatment needed etc... So if that assumption is correct, I think that's all I would need - just the GP file.

I will bear in mind your warning about surprises!

 

[barefoot]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Mit You have summed up my dilemma really....wanting to know and fill in some gaps...but then being worried about managing the emotional impact of that process. The thought of sitting in a GP surgery reading it...that really makes me shudder!

I'm glad that the decision turned out to be the right one for you.

 

[barefoot]

@Anarchy - I don't know what to say...just so sorry for what you've been through...