Out Of Hours service

[kregrs]

Maybe someone can answer a question for me. Like most areas, our out of hours Doctor service is carried out by a private company, in this case Harmoni. Now, the question I have is, who is responsible for the data they hold on patients?

What I mean is, at my Doctors surgery, they have all my details, address, contact numbers etc, and should I need to ring the out of hours service, they too have my details which should generally match those held by my GP surgery. Whose responsibility is it to ensure those deatils are correct?

The reason I ask is, back in June I had a heart attack, at the weekend. We rang the out of hours service, where, after explaining to the Dr how I was feeling, he dealt with arranging for an Ambulance to attend. But, after nearly 15 mins, we had a phone call from the Ambulance service asking for our address, as the address given to them was empty, they'd been sent to my previous address. It had been nearly 6 months since we moved, and had informed my GP surgery of the new address.

 

I'm just curious as to whose mistake it was, as it struck me afterwards, if I had been in a more serious condition (I was up, mobile and walking around, and had at first thought I had indigestion and it was a load of fuss for nothing) that delay could have had totally different consequences.

[Night Owl]

Hi kregrs.

 

I belive that when you call the out of hours doctors service that they have the same access to your electronic medical records as your GP? If I am wrong then someone will correct me on this.

Have you checked with your surgery that they have actually amended your new address details?

[kregrs]

Yes, been confirmed they have the right address

[Dellboy1977]

I don’t think all these different service points are relying on same data base. Please correct me if I am wrong, when you changed your address, technically it should pass through to the local PSU (patient services Unit) and should feed into Exeter system. Due to human and technical issues this may not happen as it should be. It seems, Exeter hasn’t updated! Please contact your local PSU (if you don’t know, please contact your local PCT and ask PSU number) and explain it to them and ask them to check your address against Exeter. They will update it. Please keep your NHS number handy, when you call. Good luck.

[ravesafe]

i used to work for harmoni before i went into education,

 

when you ring the out of hours center, you will fill in a form over the phone with your details. it is your responsobility to tell them of any medical conditions you have that may affect your treatment. dont ask me why, its just what used to happen.

 

that data is then sent to the visiting GP's laptop via gprs (mobile internet) that is usually all the doctor has to go on when visiting a patient out of hours.

 

a lot of the doctors i worked with where from Germany and could fly over on thursday till monday to double their salaries.

 

i hope this helps