NHS Appointments & Patient Records

I think that the default position of the NHS is that patients have all the time in the world available & should be grateful for an appointment. We don't have time pressures, jobs or family commitments. We are happy to sit in waiting rooms, often not particularly comfortably, & watch the medics world go by.

I spend a lot of time seeing doctors, nurses & consultants & I am tired of waiting, sometimes for interminable lengths of time, for someone to see me. An appointment is an appointment. There should be some flexibility on both parts, but basically if the consult isn't within certain perameters of time it isn't an appointment.

I do understand that doctors have to deal with emergencies, particularly GP's. In that case the patient should be informed speedily & given the option of another appointment or a different doctor.

What I don't understand is what happened to me today. A routine blood test with a nurse. A very quiet surgery, at 9.15 in the morning before a time lag should have built up. Just one other patient in the waiting room. No patients with the nurse that I saw leave. A matter of minutes for a simple test.

I waited for over 15 minutes. There was no apology or explanation for the delay. I actually think this is a culture of rudeness & inconsiderate to the patient. I can imagine the response if patients were to treat appointments in the same casual way.

To add insult to injury I asked for a printout of my last full blood tests a fortnight ago. The receptionist said she couldn't do it - no problem. The nurse also said she couldn't do it because it had to be signed off by a doctor. She also said that my records belong to the surgery.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have a legal right to apply for access to health information held about you. This includes your NHS or private health records held by a GP, optician, dentist or by a hospital. If you want to see your health records, you don't have to give a reason. It is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR). Nothing in the law prevents healthcare professionals from informally showing you your own records. Some GPs have given online access to their patients’ GP records for some time.

From April 2015 all GPs should give their patients online access to summary information in their records. This is part of the drive to provide more GP online services to patients. It should give you more control of your health and well-being, especially if you are managing conditions that need regular monitoring and frequent prescriptions like me.

I was advised to make an appointment to see my GP. When I said I thought this was a waste of her time the nurse suggested I email the surgery FAO my GP and ask for the blood results. As far as I am concerned it is my body and therefore my records. In this age of modern communication I should be able to access my records as and when I want. It doesn't seem to me to be asking a lot.