I took my disabled dad for a long procedure last week at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow (Greater London). I parked at what I thought was a disabled parking space, displayed the blue badge properly as required. When my dad finished his procedure and we got back to the car around 4 hours later (still within time limit imposed), to my horror I saw a parking charge notice stuck on the windscreen wiper. I was astonished and dad was very upset. The guy parked next to me told me he was here yesterday and saw another car given a parking charge notice- apparently he said where I parked was meant to be the exit! I have uploaded an image on Youtube to show where I parked that day. Since I am relatively new to this website I am not allowed to post a link but if you go to Youtube and type in ''NHS hospital car park run by APCOA'' you will see the image I took. It shows the space has a ''disabled'' sign on it and I didn't see anything else obvious to me that it was the exit. Coincidentally when I was waiting for my dad in the hospital that day I read an article from Daily mail newspaper. It can be seen online if you search for ''Daily mail, Parking cowboys hit cancer victims: Now scandal of 'disgraceful' fines spreads to NHS hospitals''. If APCOA really want patients to know it was an exit, surely they could have cleaned up the disabled sign and repaint clearly something like ''Exit only, no parking'' on the ground? My key question is : Should I complain to the NHS or should I just ignore it? Thanks a bunch for your thoughts.

Hi, this is a bit of a long one. after an excessive amount of migraines, sickness and declining vision with light sensitivity and constant blurring I was referred to a neurologist at gloucester hospital. I had this appointment a week after referral as my doctor was quite alarmed at my symptoms. The neurologist said I have pressure being applied to the optical nerves from within the brain (papilleodema). They don't know what's causing the pressure so he stressed I urgently need an MRI scan, stating that I should be ready to drop everything and rush in for the scan. I was then sent to the imaging department of the hospital with the referral form which had clearly been marked urgent , the word urgent circled multiple times accompanied by arrows pointing to it. The receptionist first complained that she was unable to read the dr's hand writing and then told me "we don't have any urgent appointments" before taking my phone number and walking off. I am completely confused at what's happening. I know the standard wait for an MRI is 3 months I'm worried that they are just going to put me to the bottom of the pile. does anyone know how long the wait is for an urgent case or what I should do for the best now to make sure they see me as soon as possible. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them?

Hi Received a letter today from Roxburghe for a Parking Charge Notice from Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. It says that on April 22 at 2pm I parked without a valid or visible proof of payment. This is the first I have heard about it! It says I am now too late to pay the discounted amount or challenge this notice. The charge is £102 (60 plus 35+vat admin fees) It goes on to say that their client sent a registered keeper letter. This was never received. There was also no charge stuck to the window when I got back. I pay when I go to the hospital and am having difficulty remembering this exact day from 3 months ago but could only guess that the ticket I purchased blew onto floor or something similar as I always place on dashboard. Can anyone advise how I should proceed? Thanks

I parked on double yellow lines in the hospital grounds, displaying a blue badge. Quite a distance from the entrance & main car park. I have received a parking charge notice issued by Colchester Hospital University NHS foundation trust. It states the t&cs are displayed at the entrance to the hospital and by entering the driver has agreed to abide by these t&cs and is legally bound by them. If I don't pay the trust can take legal proceedings and it says on the back representations should be made in writing within 7 days and gives the hospital address. I have breached 2 rules; parking outside a designated bay and parking on yellow lines. A staff member said I should just bin it as most people do but I am unsure and don't want to ignore it and have debt collectors turning up on the doorstep! Do I have to pay this charge? I have to say that there are no parking t&cs in the area I parked in.

Hi I work for the NHS my line manager has told our department that we can only book our leave one month before we want it e.g If I want my two weeks leave in July I cant ask for it until June which leaves it a bit late to book anything as we may not get an answer until two weeks before the holiday date Also if there is a problem with to many staff booking the same days , we have to fight amongst ourselves as to who is having it regardless who booked first Does anyone know if there is a set criteria for notice periods when booking block leave in the NHS or is it up to your manager to make the rules up

Hi all, My Wife works for the above NHS trust, and has to park in the general car park for all and sundry. The trust at the moment isn't issuing out staff parking permits, and so, consequently, received a 'Civil Parking Notice' from Car Parking Partnership, asking for a charge off £60, but can be reduced down to £30 if payed within 14 days. I've read on varies threads, that she should either ignore it, or write a letter to the trust explaining the situation of how the charge was occurred. However, as she works there, she doesn't think this will be the only charge she will get. If this carries on, could she end up with more problems if she becomes a 'repeat offender' ??? Any advice or guidance would be a great help. Cheers muchly !!!! Bloke199

A health watchdog is warning that thousands of people have been sent hoax emails suggesting they have cancer. The messages appear to come from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It says the contents are likely to be distressing and has reported the hoax to the police. It is not clear exactly how many people are affected, but based on the high number of calls to the organisation it is thought to number thousands. NICE is advising people who have received the email - the subject line of which is important blood analysis result - to delete it without opening it and not to click on any links.

Over the last few months a number of forum members have asked for advice concerning the poor care of their relatives. Whilst they have been given advice on how to deal with the issues concerning their relatives treatment it as become obvious that a place is required for people to make comments generally about their experiences of the NHS. Are there issues you would like to raise about the NHS nationally or locally then please feel free to post them here.

Hi I'm unsure if anyone can help me or has any experience of this, but I thought I'd give it a try. I currently am one of the 'lucky' people who still has an NHS dentist (after being on the waiting list for nearly a year.......). Anyway my NHS dentist sees a lot of private patients also and I always get the feeling everytime I go that I'm being sold expensive treatments which are only available for private patients etc... I do decline politely as it's usually cosmetic treatment and not necessary. The dentist is very pompous (IMHO) and can be downright rude and my appointments last for a 3 minutes (if I'm lucky) and that's for a check up. I pay my band A charge (£18ish now) and then if I need another appointment such as a filling etc, he makes me make another appointment and I'm charged again - usually Band B. I understand that time constraints are there and 'work' such as fillings etc need to be factored in. However, because I refuse his cosmetic private treatment and I'm an NHS patient, he's very rude, rushed and in my opinion does not really care. I feel really uncomfortable around him. So my question is, can I change my NHS dentist and be put back on the waiting list even though I have access to current NHS dentist. I know that some people really struggle to find one. Thanks

Hi to everyone on the CAG forum. I have been a "lurker" for quite a while and was recently asked for help by a good friend who is totally computer illiterate. She works as a nurse looking after handicapped children and has done so for all her working life. Way back she was persuaded by the NHS to "opt out" of her pension scheme. After 13 years out of the NHS scheme she was warned that her pension had sufferred and advised to opt back in. This she did, but on recently checking her pension forecasts, she finds her pension is a shadow of what it would have been if she had stayed in. Is there any pension advice or anyone who can help on the forum please. If so it would be much appreciated. All the best Ian

I previously worked in an NHS hospital pharmacy and have now returned from maternity leave to work in an NHS funded GP surgery. My previous employer wants me to repay my maternity pay as I have 'failed to return to NHS employment'. The new job was advertised on the 'NHS Jobs' official website, I still pay into an NHS pension, my work email address is *********@NHS.net and I have an NHS Care Records Service card to enable me to access the NHS computer system (the exact same one I used in my previous job!!!!) Yet, my previous employer insists this is not an NHS job. I'm so confused and worried about the prospect of having to pay thousands back Any help is much appreciated, L

Morning everybody. Bit of a funny one here. I recently received a letter from CCI legal saying I owe £86 to Great Ormond Street Hospital. Now my daughter is under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2009 she started her treatment under my private medical, but I changed jobs in 2010 and she was moved over to NHS and has been ever since. I have tried to get some sense out of this, but have been told it is money owed from the period that she was under my private medical. Now I have no problem in paying the money, but dont just want to fork out money without any proof that it is owed. CCI legal are absolutely harassing me with daily calls, email and nearly weekly letters. Where do I stand legally? I would really appreciate any advice on how to approach this matter and get them to a) stop harassing me and b) give me proof of the money that is owed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards FB

I work for a NHS trust as a community nurse. I have a lease car as part of my role. This week we received a letter telling us, "that due to the rise in insurance premium, following increase in claims. We will now have to all pay £31 extra each month to cover this increase". Now I picked up my new lease car on Monday 28th of October and was not made aware that this increase was impending. So I am pretty angry about that. I have looked through my contract and there is a section that states we could be expected to pay extra, for an increase in premiums. But is it really reasonable to expect people to be able to pay an extra £31 per month?

My sister-in-law was originally on a fixed term contract with no end date and at that time every other employee in the department was substantive. There was a reorganisation in the department which was subject to competitive interview for all jobs. She was unsuccessful in obtaining a substantive role at the same band but was given a substantive role at a band below. The manager let slip she scored more points in interview as another person but did not get the substantive role. She pursued this with the union rep and explained to the manager her grievance at the process as she felt it was unfair. She didn't put a formal grievance in at that time but was allowed to 'act up' to the higher band for another 6 months and left it at that. 2 years have passed (She's been on maternity leave and come back) and no opportunity to get back to the appropriate band has arisen until recently. Someone has retired and a vacancy at the correct band is being advertised. This job is exactly the same as the job she used to do (and no-one else has done) so I wondered if she could be 'slotted in'? There are other staff that satisfy the person spec but they are at the appropriate bands and have not been affected by change. She's not at risk but has been affected by change albeit 2 years ago. I understand the vacancy went out to the restricted pool first (which she's not in) and is now being advertised externally. Surely there is a duty to help internal staff who have been affected by change first rather than throwing it open to the world to compete with? She's also discovered some policies relating to this are missing and have already received an apology from HR. Help much appreciated.

Hi guys, I need your help. I am having a difficult time to seek for solictiors in my local as many of them have declined to take my case on a legal aid due to over 3 years limitation. I'm still trying to sue the hospital for taking responsibility for caused my father's death by leaving the missing needle inside his body during his heart surgery bypass. They had left him trouble with his breathing after the surgery when they transferred him to high dependency unit which they was supposed to transfer him to intensive care unit, but they left it 3 days later. He kept being ill and getting better which it had occured 3 times already. His face went grey and they should have transfer him to the theatre surgery straight away but they didn't. They had put the room on his own where it was really dirty and filthy. He caught the MRSA infections and c.difficult. He had sepsis and pneumonia, they was not be able to keep up with him and they had gave up on him. They had switched off his life support machine to allowed him to die in peace without our permission when we was outside in the waiting room and we was not being allowed to be in the room with him. They was being negligent to give him poor care and treatment when they did not acting quickly enough to save him. I can't be able to get legal action against them, because the hospital postponded their response to preventing us taking legal action. I have tried to find my local solicitors everywhere after the incident, but none of them want to take it due to three years limitation when I was under the limitation. I wrote a letter to my local MP to get support with solicitors. I received a letter from my MP as he said that I should try to get advice through my local citizens advice bureau which I already did it. I responded his letter and i said that i have already done it when my local citizens advice bureau adviced me what to do to seek for solicitors. I got his responded and he said that he was not aware about the time limitation, so he said that he cannot help. I am very upset, angry and frustrated the way we have been treated. I don't really know what I am suppose to do. Can you please advice me what I would need to do to get advice with solicitors or if I need to see a lawyer on a legal aid? If it is not possible, do I need to write a letter to british medical association to get legal advice or what other way I need to do? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hi My dad went for a walk one day & came back feeling chest pains he went to the Dr - who sent him to hospital for tests. The hospital booked him in for a Myocardial Perfusion scan which was on 1 Thursday & the 2nd part on the following Thursday. On the following Thursday, they said that he would get the results in 7-14 days via a letter or call which after 10 days never happened. 10 days after the test, he suffered pains & via ambulance went to hospital. The Dr he saw there said he had had a mild heart attack. He also said that the results of the Myocardial Perfusion Scan had been on the hospital database (we wondered why the results hadn't been sent out) & that if he had gotten the results sooner, he probably wouldn't have had the mild heart attack! It could have been a big heart attack & who knows what could've happened after that! they had the results of his Myocardial & didn't send them out! We still haven't got them & they could've prevented him having a heart attack! Which he had! & could've been worse! Are there grounds here for suing the NHS.? They are lovely nurses & Dr's but it's how it's all run. Help appreciated!

Is it worth my while to put a complaint in to my local PALS service due to the miss handling of me by my local hospital? From misdiagnosis to repeatedly cancelled out patient appointments to losing the notes that was supposed to request me being admitted for more surgery to yet again this month me being lost in the system and not getting the 6 month follow up that I was supposed to have....with the oh you are not in the system and we dont know anything about it as the usual response?

Hi all I went to the Dentist last week for the first time in a while, I had a checkup because its a new dentist, and I was told i had some tooth decay on my rightmost back molar. The dentist was foreign and he spoke so quickly, I honestly couldn't understand him half the time and I'm not used to going to the dentist, never having had a filling or anything like that. Anyway I didn't really understand my options so just went for the filling, not realising I can get a silver one from free on NHS because I am on ESA due to mental health issues. I signed their forms and arranged the appointment for Friday, but now I'm thinking I want to back out because I can't afford it and didn't fully understand it, I get confused at times you see. But before I left she said I had to put in a £50 deposit for this treatment, not really understanding this, I put my card in a paid the £50... But now if I don't have the treatment, will I get my £50 back? Any help appreciated, I haven't spoken to the dentist yet and wanted to go in will all the facts first so I know what I am doing, otherwise I will get anxious and flustered and probably get it all wrong

I cant recall if I posted about this a while back (I think if I did it was more to do with claiming some ESA benefit instead of the mistakes by them). I really think they have messed up my arm bigtime. So it was just over a year ago. I had a laceration in my left arm which cut through my tendon. My local hospital diagnosed it as a cut "Flexor" tendon and "Radial" nerve. I was booked into a specialist hospital in another town to have an operation and the screw up's began. Upon arrival they ignored the notes from my hospital and claimed it was just a nerve injury... So less serious. They delayed the operation twice and around a month after my injury they finally operated. The surgeon came and saw me after. The operation should of taken an hour, but when he cut my arm open he realised my hospital were correct with the diagnosis that this hospital ignored (cut tendon and nerve) and it took 2 hours. He explained tendon injury's are more serious and because I left it for so long before having the operation, everything had stuck back together in the wrong place and I may never get the full feeling back in my left arm. I corrected him and said that the hospital were the ones who delayed the operation, not me. He looked through my early notes and the look on his face said it all. When leaving the hospital they gave me someone else's notes to hand to my GP. The notes were some woman's who had breast treatment. I knew I would make up a complaint. I went for physio a few weeks later and was left waiting for 6 hours while other's pushed in. At about 5pm they closed the reception and 3 of us were left waiting and not seen. We questioned it and there had been a mixup with paperwork and so they didnt even realise we had signed in at reception. When I was seen they rushed me through and the guy took my bandage off and told me to go and wash my arm. Then said I will have to massage the scar tissue each day until the scar tissue is gone. He said it could take up to a year to fully heal and for the scar tissue to fade. I made my complaint to their PALS. I sent scanned images of the other persons dr's notes and they told me they will investigate and let me know in 6 weeks time.... There was delay after delay. 6 weeks came and went, then they said it will take another month, then another month. In that time I saw my GP and showed them the wrong dr's notes so they knew I wasnt lying about the hospital's mixup. They told me they will have to throw them in the bin because it's confidential information about another patient that I shouldnt of been given. Anyway.... At the end of January this year, more than 4 months after I put in my original complaint, they finally replied and I was sickened by what they had to say. It was excuse after excuse. They claim they made the correct diagnosis. They said they spoke to the surgeon and to put it simply he was a lying little B@stard (appologies for the language but that's the only way I can describe him). He claimed the operation took 2 hours because he was taking his time and making sure the operation went well. He said he was aware that it was a tendon injury and claimed that I made it worse for myself by delaying the operation (I never did as I mentioned above). Furthermore they sent an envelope to send back the wrong doctors notes that belonged to a different patient. I had already told them that my GP had thrown them away and that I sent scanned images in the email to them.... but they ignored that and basically said in the letter that they don't believe me and wont believe me unless I send the notes back to them. I just threw the letter to 1 side, I had given in the battle with them. After 4 months of phonecalls, email's, letters, they had twisted or ignored the facts and made up a load of rubbish to get their staff off the hook. Just didnt have the fight in me to carry on with their rubbish. So, forward things to now. Its basically a year since the operation, I had been massaging my arm every day and the scar tissue should be gone by now.... but nope. It's actually got worse in the past week. If I tap my arm I feel a shooting pain running down my arm and I cant even massage away the rest of the scar tissue because pressing on that part of my arm puts me in complete agony. What the hell can I even do now?? If I go to my dr's they will send me back to that rubbish hospital because thats the place that specialises in tendon and nerve damage in people's arm. Never going back there after this ordeal :/

Hi All, Id like to ask for some advice as i really dont know where i stand on this one. When I was in Primary school, some 35yrs ago every other Monday the whole school was hearded onto 2 coaches and taken to the local NHS dental training hospital. The children's teeth were not just examined but more often than not, work carried out. I had ALL of my molars filled before leaving Primary School and my brother, who is 14mths younger than me had root canal treatment!!!!! This experience has left me with a fear of going to the dentist and my teeth are in a bad way. I need to get them fixed and I feel that the NHS or my Primary Sch should pay to put them right because I shouldnt have been going to this dental facility every 2 weeks. What do you think?? all comments welcomed Kind Regards, EOS-5D

Apologies if this is not the correct forum for this but would appreciate the CAGGERS' responses to the complaint that I wish to make about the dentist I have been seeing. The complaint letter would (I hope) explain all. Dear Sir/Madam I wish to lodge a complaint against the dentist supplying my dental treatment. I first saw (name withheld) at the end of May 2013 when she examined and took x-rays at which time I paid the initial fee of £18. She explained to me that I would need all my teeth removed and have dentures supplied. She also explained that it would need a number of visits as I am on warfarin and there would be a risk of excessive bleeding. The number of visits would be approximately 8 – 10. This I agreed to as she suggested that I make a series of 3 bookings at a time which would shorten the waiting period between visits. I made a series of bookings over a month which took care of 5 bookings and so expected only 3 further visits to complete the treatment. On the 3rd June she removed some teeth and I paid a further £39 to cover the extractions. On 24 June she removed a further 3 teeth leaving me with only 3 teeth left at which stage she told me that she would leave the last 3 teeth and have impressions made so that I would have some teeth until I could have the intermediate dentures which would be approximately 2 – 3 weeks after impressions. At that time I paid the final £165 to cover all the treatment at Band 3. The following appointment on 1 July was cancelled by the surgery due to (name withheld) ill health. Unfortunately I was unable to make the following appointment on 8 July due to my own ill health. When I attended for the next appointment on 24 July I was advised by (name withheld) that although she could take impressions on that day, it was unlikely that I could get another appointment until November and she suggested that I go to a general practice dentist to complete the treatment. This would, in effect, cost me more as I would have to pay the full Band 3 cost again. There is also no guarantee that a dentist in general practice would accept me as a patient with my medical condition which would mean further delays. Due to complications over many procedures for heart by-pass surgery, TIA’s and finally cancer surgery I have been having problems with losing teeth and therefore trouble eating for some 2 years and had to wait until my INR was in an acceptable range to attempt dental surgery and even then had to be referred by my GP to the (name withheld) and waiting some time for an appointment. I am unable to go out and socialise without teeth and also find it extremely difficult to chew and have to be on a soft food diet. I do not find it acceptable to have to wait a total of almost 9 months to have treatment. I was also advised that I could not get a refund of any money without going through a lot of red tape by filling in forms, submitting them to another department and waiting (for what I consider) quite some time for a refund to my bank account. The payments were made by credit card. Should I not receive a timely and suitable resolution I will have no alternative but to escalate my complaint to the relevant authorities. I would be grateful for your early response.

Hi Guys, Some guidance would be hugely appreciated please. I've been working in a frontline NHS department for three years, and previously another three years in another department. A new Dr started working here approx' two years ago and made his strong religious beliefs widely known. He's made a few comments here and there regarding his disapproval at my same-sex relationship amongst other things, albeit always polite (and slightly condescending) He has also made comments to nursing staff regarding his disapproval at their being pregnant whilst unmarried etc. Several members of staff, me included, have raised our concerns informally about this. A few weeks ago however this Dr approached me whilst I was working alone (as usual) and told me he had seen the news regarding gay marriage and said it was "a very sad day for the country". I said that I preferred to call it equal marriage and thought it was wonderful news. Then followed about ten minutes of the most offensive (weirdly polite) rant. He said God was not not happy for me and that he would appreciate the opportunity of changing my thoughts about my sexuality. He said I would be his "ultimate". He said I needed to think about the end of my life and what was beyond it and kept repeating that he wants to try and change my thoughts. Eventually I said that I did not believe in his God, or in pixies and faries for that matter, and what exactly would he like to achieve by following me around asking for the "opportunity". I asked if he would prefer if I ended my 17 year relationship. He said yes. I told him if he ever tried to have this conversation with me again I would tell him to F*@k off. I'm 38 years old and felt like I was 14 again. I was so upset. I actually felt like I was seedy / dirty. I reported him to his lead consultant and an investigation has started. But what has really p*@sed me off is that for two days following the formal allegation we continued to work alongside eachother with him repeatedly trying to speak to me. Hence I was pretending to be on the phone, hiding in the loo, making excuses to leave the department etc. Eventually after two days I took a days holiday on the last day so as to avoid him. Is this right?? Shouldn't he (or I) have been sent home or put on garden leave?? I have been on leave and have to return on Tuesday to attend a two hour formal interview (recorded) and after which will be starting my shift in the department although thankfully he will be off that day. During that day several of my colleagues will be removed from work to attend meetings of their own as witnesses to my complaint. My stress is absolutely off the scale. I'm not sleeping, am taking sleeping pills, can't concentrate on anything else and have never felt so tense in my life. I considered speaking to my GP and possibly taking stress-related time off whilst this investigation is ongoing (a couple more weeks) but am also worried that this would prohibit me from also attending these complaint related meetings also? (From HR's perspective?) I don't want to have to use up all my holiday leave either. Any help here would be enormously appreciated. Thanks. Stressedreceptionist.

A few weeks ago, I had my eyes tested and was told I need new glasses. I asked for tinted lenses and explained that I've had tints and reactions before and needed something darker. I was told I wouldn't be able to see if I had a darker tint. I was told that the optician would check the criteria to see if I could get my tinted lenses free. It turns out that I don't meet the criteria. Can anyone tell me what the criteria is, please? I have severe photophobia and over the last few weeks, it's become steadily worse. I can't last more than 5 minutes in a room with lights wearing non-tinted glasses without getting a headache. I have been told before I won't get them for free because they're a luxury. I would hardly call needing tinted lenses a luxury when it used to mean I couldn't go out in the sun without getting a migraine...

SAR Guide to Obtain a copy of or view your patient records. A how to by the ICO http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information The NHS Guide to http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?categoryid=68 NHS SAR/FOI guide plus form I received off my local NHS Trust - handy to know what address and documentation you have to supply. Also has fees. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=37717&d=1345612669 - SAR Guide PDF http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=37718&d=1345612674 - NHS Trust request form PDF *Note* I had to request this form from my local NHS Trusts PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Service. A quick phone call and they emailed it to me. Forms may/will differ from trust to trust so check local trust websites for how to obtain one and what you have to do. To view or get a copy of your GP records send a SAR letter (see bottom of this post for sample) & address it F.A.O. the Practice Manager. For NHS Hospital/Consultant records you have to look on the website for each trust you want the records off. Usually it's download/fill in a form, make a copy of the ID proof they want, send it to the trusts data controller and await contact from them for cost. Costs can vary but the rules are £10 for electronically held records and up to £50 for anything held on paper. With NHS records if you still are a patient or have been within 30 days the fee is waved and it is free. You can also arrange to view you records for free and keep them updated by requesting copies of new letters as and when they are written etc. Also keep an eye on the 40 day response window, be prepared to send a follow up letter if you feel that they have not sent everything. It usually takes a second letter as they tend to be lazy! Send all letters recorded signed for and print off when they were accepted. I use this letter for electronic GP records and vary it depending on what I'm after

Thanks to speedfreak for this Here's my letters plus a copy of the SAR form I received. NHS SAR/FOI guide plus form I received yesterday - handy to know what address and documentation you have to supply. Also has fees. NHS SAR Guide.pdf Subject_access_request_form 110825.pdf Letter to GP for records taken from guide Access to Health Records under the Data Protection Act 1998 (Subject access request) Patient’s authority consent form for release of health records (Manual or Computerised Health Records) Date of request 27/07/2012 To: Dr Foster - Puddle Lane Gloucester From : Mr Speedfreek, 15 Milky Button Towers Lego Land, D.O.B. xx/xx/xx, Telephone xxxxxxxxx, NHS Number xxxxxxxxx Please accept this as a formal request as above for a copy of all computerised health records held by yourselves relating to myself from xx/xx/xxxx to present day. If there are additional paper records please could you indicate what these are? If you redact any of my record please could you provide a summary of what you have redacted and a explanation of why you have done this? I understand that a fee of £10 is chargeable for this request. As for the format of the data provided and if easier for yourselves I am quite happy to accept those records on a DATA CD or any other media that can be read/recorded on/to via a personal computer. If required you can contact myself on the telephone number xxxx xxx xxxx. It has an answering service, so if I am unavailable please leave a message. Yours faithfully Follow up letter after they failed to supply all info. My dealings with this - a patient summary/overview holds nothing controversial or from a 3rd party so does not need any decisions on what can and can't be released to you. It's also very simple to press print on go make a cup of tea and collect after 5-10 minutes. Getting the associated records under this summary page involves them doing something! Like getting everything authorised by a senior medically trained partner and clicking/going into each individual entry. The lady was not happy when I chased this yesterday. So deliberate obfuscation or pure laziness? Hiding behind the former as it's a lot of effort to do the latter fully I'd say! Dear xxxxxxx Practice, I made a request for a full copy of the records held by yourselves on myself in a letter (enclosed) on the xx/xx/2012. Unfortunately you have not complied fully with my request! Now what I asked for was; ' a copy of all computerised health records held by yourselves relating to myself from xx/xx/xxxx to present day. If there are additional paper records please could you indicate what these are?' What you have provided is a summary of my record without the underlying data that accompanies it. Now associated with my record summary are letters/referrals/reports/etc which I also require copies of as part of the original request. I know these exist as I have partial copies of some of them and my overview/summary that you have provided clearly indicates that these letters/referrals/reports/etc exist. I hereby formally request that you release this data in its entirety to me, as is my legal right under the Data Protection Act 1998 and therefore fully comply with my original request. To make things simpler I am not after anything related to my physical health in the slightest; like blood test results etc. What I'm after is everything held, sent or received with regards' to my mental health. To narrow it down even further; everything from and including my first referral to counseling dated xx/xx/xxxx by Dr xxxxxx xxxxx to present day. I would appreciate it if you also included the DWP reports about myself which have been requested/completed recently. They will get to me eventually I'd rather that it be sooner. If any of these are still held on paper or if you decided to treat this as a new request I am fully prepared to pay any new fees due. I would not be making this request if I wasn't. I look forward to hearing from you soon, yours faithfully