Missing Medical Notes
Discussion
I had to visit my local MIU a few days ago after standing on a piece of wood which had a protruding nail.
No problem with the treatment that I received but something rather concerning came to light.
I have lived in the same town for over 30 years and have been with the same medical practice for the whole of that period. The Practice recently merged with another practice which operates out of the same building. MIU is in a different building about 20 metres away.
The Nurse who treated me told me that I did not exist on their
computer system.
She wrote me a note to take to practice reception asap.
It stated
'Please can you update the Patients NHS Spine Clinical Notes as we have no records for him.'
A bit concerning if I had an accident elsewhere and was unconscious.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? The Receptionist that I spoke to could not understand how this could have happened.
No problem with the treatment that I received but something rather concerning came to light.
I have lived in the same town for over 30 years and have been with the same medical practice for the whole of that period. The Practice recently merged with another practice which operates out of the same building. MIU is in a different building about 20 metres away.
The Nurse who treated me told me that I did not exist on their
computer system.
She wrote me a note to take to practice reception asap.
It stated
'Please can you update the Patients NHS Spine Clinical Notes as we have no records for him.'
A bit concerning if I had an accident elsewhere and was unconscious.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? The Receptionist that I spoke to could not understand how this could have happened.
Considering there are over 44,000 healthcare IT systems in 26,000 organisations it's unsurprising data gets lost:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/care-identity-serv...
It's an inexcusable shambles.
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/care-identity-serv...
It's an inexcusable shambles.
Riley Blue said:
Considering there are over 44,000 healthcare IT systems in 26,000 organisations it's unsurprising data gets lost:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/care-identity-serv...
It's an inexcusable shambles.
Well that's something I didn't know. As you say, hardly surprising.https://digital.nhs.uk/services/care-identity-serv...
It's an inexcusable shambles.
Recently I needed to ask for a copy of my full medical record. I got back nearly 300 pages of pdf hosted via some sort of secure platform where you can read/download it. I was amazed with scanned records going back to the early 80s!
Over the past few years I've been impressed by the development of the NHS App and also the MyChart/MyMFT App that gives near instant test results as soon as they're completed along with Consultant's letters etc.
Clearly in some NHS Trusts it works, but not a uniform picture across the country.
Over the past few years I've been impressed by the development of the NHS App and also the MyChart/MyMFT App that gives near instant test results as soon as they're completed along with Consultant's letters etc.
Clearly in some NHS Trusts it works, but not a uniform picture across the country.
Primary and secondary care are notoriously bad at sharing information. The MIU data may be on a different platform.
You can ask for a subject access request for your patient data, however, I suspect all you really want is for your information to be joined up and accessible.
I would be persistent though - as losing patient information is not good / not legal / poor record keeping.
You can ask for a subject access request for your patient data, however, I suspect all you really want is for your information to be joined up and accessible.
I would be persistent though - as losing patient information is not good / not legal / poor record keeping.
ISTM that it's more a case of NHS systems not talking to each other. Your records are presumably with the GP but invisible to the staff you saw.
Don't underestimate just how s
te and shambolic NHS IT can be. When I was logging in to look at and make entries in my patients' records I had separate systems for
Each system had a separate username and password and expiry periods - couldn't jump between systems so to adequately assess and record something about a patient I had to open all of these separate systems. Woe betide me if I left my desk to actually see a patient because it all locked up, if another member of staff hadn't logged themselves in, I had to log in to all of the information systems again.
I joked, not innaccurately, that I was being paid tens of thousands a year just to log in and out of information systems.
Our own Trust was particularly shambolic as rather than purchase an established information system it went down the penny pinching route and entered into an arrangement with a developer to essentially beta test a non established system. It persisted with this for about a decade before abandoning it and then failed to learn the lesson and got into bed with another developer for the next system. The old record system was locked after a few months and access to patients' historical records from the new system was akin to trying to find a book in a library through the keyhole let alone read what is in the book.
Apart from not commuting, freedom from IT misery is one of the greatest benefits of retirement.
Don't underestimate just how s
te and shambolic NHS IT can be. When I was logging in to look at and make entries in my patients' records I had separate systems for- Trust records where I made my own entries and could read colleagues (in the same organisation's) entries
- Drug prescription system
- Adjacent trust for pathology (blood tests mainly) records through rotating residents who kept their log in details whilst seconded to us. I got access as a part of a pilot scheme but other consultants didn't.
- Another system for radiology records which I couldn't access but residents who had kept their passwords could get in
- No access to records for adjacent Trust
- No access to GP records other than a sort of 'front door' summary.
- No access to social care records. Not even being able to identify whether patient known to social services. This required a phone call to someone who could access the record.
Each system had a separate username and password and expiry periods - couldn't jump between systems so to adequately assess and record something about a patient I had to open all of these separate systems. Woe betide me if I left my desk to actually see a patient because it all locked up, if another member of staff hadn't logged themselves in, I had to log in to all of the information systems again.
I joked, not innaccurately, that I was being paid tens of thousands a year just to log in and out of information systems.
Our own Trust was particularly shambolic as rather than purchase an established information system it went down the penny pinching route and entered into an arrangement with a developer to essentially beta test a non established system. It persisted with this for about a decade before abandoning it and then failed to learn the lesson and got into bed with another developer for the next system. The old record system was locked after a few months and access to patients' historical records from the new system was akin to trying to find a book in a library through the keyhole let alone read what is in the book.
Apart from not commuting, freedom from IT misery is one of the greatest benefits of retirement.
Edited by oddman on Sunday 14th September 08:40
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