obtaining medical records for a parent

[sick.as.a.chip]

Hi all. Sorry it has taken so long but I thought an update would be ok?

I've finally finished my letter and sent it off. Don't want to post it up here but I will update again once I get a reply.

Thank you all for your help and support. Without you all I would never have gotten this far x

[Sali]

Good on you, sick.as.a.chip. I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed for you.

[sick.as.a.chip]

Many thanks sali, I'll keep the thread updated. So far not even an acknowledgement

I did send it to the ceo of the health authority and also copied in the complaints department

[sick.as.a.chip]

Quick update. As it was almost 3 weeks since they signed for my letter I decided to chase them up. Apparently it was an oversight not to send me an acknowledgement letter (not really surprised there) but I need to sign a consent form so they can go to mum's GP, waiting for that to arrive and I will send it back. After that they said it will take approx another 5 week's to finish investigating. They have started investigating tho apparently.

I'll update more when I get it!

[sick.as.a.chip]

Morning. Letter back from the hospital. It's useless. 4 pages of crap but I did learn why the e-mail was mis-directed. There are 2 doctors with similar names. Obviously the hospital in there letter state that everything is fine with timescales etc and apologise for the miss direction. Even managing to spell my name incorrectly. Quoted the gp practice who also got my name wrong saying that the practice manager would never have suggested taking legal action to get mum's records!! If I get the chance I'll post the letter up. I knew not to expect much but now I'm clueless as to what to do

[Sali]

I'm confused. If you have two names similar in an organisation, the right and sensible thing to do would be to ensure that the email addresses as they appear in the global address list would also identify the individual by other criteria ie. his/her department name. I cannot imagine that the NHS use a system that is so archaic that this is not possible, especially when speed and confidentiality are so important to a process. If the email, however, went to the wrong recipient, I would be wondering why they did not forward it on the right person immediately and notify the sender of their mistake. Let's face it, it cannot have been the first time this happened. You would also ensure that the internal (snail) mail department was alert to the situation.

 

The hospital are saying that this delay was inconsequential to patient outcome. From your previous posts I would question this. Do you have a copy of the email? (Don't post it, I just want to know).

 

You need to draw up a time-line of events if you haven't already, using your mum's medical notes. This will be useful if the case goes further.

 

Their inability to get your name right suggests to me a sloppy attitude which probably extends to every other area of their work.

 

The response from the practice manager stating that there was no suggestion that you would need to use legal action to obtain your mum's data shows how important it is to get everything in writing or on tape (recording openly or covertly).

 

I know this must be very hard for you. The hospital management was never going to make it easy - honesty is not their bag. This is just the beginning of a very long battle for truth.