Does your EP mind if you email her? If we all did that......
She hasn't mentioned having a specialist nurse
Do you email your EP?: Does your EP... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Do you email your EP?
42 Replies
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I email my EP, I do so via his secretary. I also attach copies of my kardia ecgs for his advice, comments etc. He seems very happy with me doing so.
I get a response usually via his secretary or he has been known to ring me himself, sometimes a response comes via an arrhythmia nurse, it all depends on the issue i have raised. Whatever the case emai!ing has been well received over the three years i have been his patient.
I would add that I live over 150 miles from my cardiac hospita!, But I think local people do the same when needed. I only do so when in need or if he has requested something like a monitoring undertaken by my gp for example.
Hope this helps.
• in reply tomeadfoot
Hi meadfoot I have the same ability to contact my docs. However for me ( and I think many US hospitals) instead of emails we contact each other through a special hospital communication program. For example my hospital communication is called mychart. I can ask questions and get answers, get Rx refills, check test results, get reminded of appts and confirm online without getting extra reminder calls plus other things I can't recall.It is activated by any one of your docs and I havea user name and password. Very convenient and I love it. irina1975
• in reply to
irina1975
Exactly what we need in NHS mychart
Will delve
Aren't you supposed to be resting?
• in reply to
LOL. Yes, Pilgrim, IAM supposed to be resting but I got sidetracked with all the great posts awaiting. Besides, being retired I can sleep late and nap when I need to. I'm not a very compliant patient am I? Also, laying in the hospital bed for also 2 days has made me wide awake now!!
I have emailed mine via his secretary but only when fairly desperate.
BobDVolunteer
I have that arrangement with my EP of long standing.
I can't imagine my EP would have time to d/w emails from his patients so I wouldn't attempt it ! My arrhythmia nurse is able to contact on my behalf if necessary.
I emailed some information to my EP that I said I would, copies of ECGs and things like that.
When I emailed "out of the blue" my EP's secretary redirected the question to the Arrhythmia Nurses, so I've just emailed them since then.
I don't have an EP only a Cardiologist I have never seen. I once saw an Arrhythmia nurse who looked about 12.
I did try emailing/telephoning/writing to the cardiologist to request the results of my Echocardiogramme which I was told would take 3 weeks and I eventually got a very short reply after 2 months saying 'no significant abnormalities' . I am hoping there aren't any abnormalities 'significant' or otherwise maybe someone will tell me one day . My request for a copy of the Echo was firmly rejected.
• in reply todoodle68
Gosh, that sounds like British Rail 40 years ago! It's funny, but also not very funny in reality.
Ouch..... this thing about who owns the test results needs to be addressed! It's just too piecemeal as everyone should have the right to access their notes and test results.
Do you get copies of the letter sent from cardiologist to GP and vice-versa?
Is there no EP or arrythmia clinic near you?
Hi CD 
yes I get copies of the brief letters from the Consultant to the GP, one suggesting medication following diagnosis by ECG, the other as mentioned above .
There is a yearly clinic, I have been once and will go again in May.
I asked for a copy last time, the lady had to ask my cardiologist "as people use them to self diagnose" I told her I've already been diagnosed. My cardiologist said yes
put in a Freedom of information request to the Health records department at the hospital for a copy of the echo. If refused ask again cc'ing your MP
Medical records aren’t covered. The question of notes and who owns them is a very contentious, variable and confused issue in the UK. Each Surgery, hospital and even department seem to have very different protocols.
They most definitely are, assuming you are in UK or rest if EU. Put in a Subject Access Request and it becomes a criminal offence to ignore / flout it, but usually just a simple FOI request is enough.
It is a subject I have had numerous conversations about.
The NHS has also a responsibility of care - that includes the disclosure of medical tests and notes. This means they need to screen every thing written to ensure you don’t read anything that is not factual or has any subjective content. This is time consuming and costly and sometimes controversial - legally. Who owns the notes is the crucial issue - the patient? the doctor? the Health Trust? The lab? Tests are often out-sourced.
You may go through a very lengthy process if you really have the determination and want to act legally but otherwise you rely upon good-will and asking nicely - and you will find outcomes very variable.
What we need is the law to change so that the patient becomes the legal owner of any tests, reports and letters performed and reported on their state of health - which is what happens in US.
See
nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?...
"You have a legal right to apply for access to your medical records. You do not need to give a reason. "
This includes what you refer to as 'subjective content' and this must be disclosed.
In the UK, health records are ultimately owned by the Secretary of State for Health, currently Jeremy Hunt, so anyone blocking access would be ultimately held accountable by him.
I will repeat that it is a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act for any organisation not to do so other than if it covered by the exemptions here :
ico.org.uk/for-organisation...
If the organisation believes they are covered they must give a full explanation why in a letter and you can appeal to the ICO to override this, which they do in a high proportion of cases.
[Quote = Mike 11 ''put in a Freedom of information request to the Health records department at the hospital for a copy of the echo. If refused ask again cc'ing your MP'']
Hi Mike yes I could do that but do I really want to knowing...
...All the hassle may cause me stress/ anxiety something which I must avoid as I am aware it triggers bad episodes of P-AF
...It could antagonize my Cardiologist on whom I might have to rely to carry out a procedure on me at some time
... That my local hospital where there were 136 'serious incidents' including 24 deaths in less than a years, which has paid out £46 million in medical blunders in 5 year and is 'in special measures' is unlikely to be overly bothered about a request for me to see my notes...
Well you did say you asked to see the echo so at one point it was causing you stress not seeing it. But obviously we all have different things that stress us. Due to my own job, I always research everything to the n'th degree, and have often caught out juniors who really aren't being as well trained as they should be before being let loose on patients on their own.
As for getting notes, all hospitals have a dedicated department that deals with these requests as they are required for most legal cases and your cardiologist would never be aware of your request.
[Quote =Mike11''Well you did say you asked to see the echo so at one point it was causing you stress not seeing it.'' ]
Hi Mike it did cause me stress at the time, I wanted to know if there was any enlargement of the left atrium. I have got over that now, no point in making things worse with stress instead I did my research and found out I can help myself with lifestyle changes and that is preferable to relying of sub standard treatment from the NHS. I waited six months to get access to a clinic and a diagnosis in the first place.
I was diagnosed during one of my visits to A&E with an enlarged left ventricle which is serious so was booked to see my cardiologist a few days later who took one look at the Xrays and scans and just sighed and shook his head. I'd obviously been stressed about it so he showed me two Xrays of other people to show me what an enlarged and normal ventricle are like. Mine was indeed normal. I don't know what happened to the A&E guy but I suspect it involved a lot of shouting in one direction.
• in reply todoodle68
I posted recently about the regional differences in services available. I have a similar experience to you. I basically look after myself. I've got a bit of wire, a soldering iron and an old Kodak camera and I'm practicing on the dog for when I think I'm ready to do my own ablation.
WendyWu20• in reply to
Hahaha made me laugh.
chrysalis8x• in reply to
Oh neat!! When will it be ready for market?????......
• in reply tochrysalis8x
What? The dog?
If I could get my hands on an angle grinder and a packet of razor blades I could branch out into open heart stuff...
Hi doodle....I also requested a copy of my Echo and results from the Arrhythmia team, after looking through my medical records and finding it was not there. It had been filed in my hospital records, so they ordered a copy to be sent to me - it arrived within the week.
Think it would be worth calling the Arrhythmia nurse/team, as you can get a copy if you request it.
I originally asked the Echo department, who said that I would have to pay £10 for a copy, but I got it for free.
good luck
Hi Ktomoph I did all that at the time with a negative response. I did not pursue the matter further for the reasons I stated above in my reply to Mike.
I also realised if I had the results of the Echo in my possession it wouldn't change anything, my treatment would be the same beta blockers and AC's.
.......yes, did read that, but thought I would add my experience....in case you still wanted a copy ....but it did make me realise how easy going and helpful the arrhythmia team are at my hospital!
....love the banter on here too....cheers me up no end...
• in reply todoodle68
doodle
Yes but if you saw a new Cardio privately it might save you a few bob if you had a copy My experience is that EPs often know each other and put a lot of faith in another EPs reports ....or not
Digital gp referrals can be hard to decipher
I've exchanged emails with my EP's secretary many times - I used to email my INR each week at one time - but she has been on maternity leave so that's put an end to our correspondence.
• in reply to
some people just have no consideration!!!!
• in reply to
You are right. She should perhaps wait until she has retired before having children. Actually I think it is not her first.
I do have a phone number and could get an email address that would reach her replacement if I was wanting to be in contact.
I have access to arrythmia nurse via email & phone and would normally contact EP through his secretary but in reality I would now go through the arrythmia nurse who would only pass on to EP if she thought urgent or she would arrange an appointment - in February I was offered an appointment the same week after emailing Kardia ECG report.
I email his secretary with any questions or if something noteworthy has occurred.
I either get a reply via his secretary or if he decides something is urgent enough he will call me directly.
After speaking to the EP in the first instance and being put on an ablation wait list i was given no contact details for the EP or even the department.
While i was on the waiting list ( which turned out to be over 12 months) i struggled to get in touch when i wanted to raise some concerns. On the few occasions that i did want to speak to someone i could only get through to the answerphone of the secretary who rarely got back to me
I found that they are not so keen once you have been handed back to your GP.
Hmm. I saw my EP in November, and have heard nothing since. He said he would copy me in to the report sent to my GP, but that never happened (my GP got the report). I'm supposed to be on his (12 month) waiting list, but have no details of that, or any kind of contact details. Maybe it's time I did some research and tried to contact his secretary, I doubt they will advertise an email address though.
Have access to both arrhythmia nurse and EP’s Secretary though luckily haven’t needed it for some time now - but very reassuring. My EP has always said he needs as much feedback as possible to monitor outcomes etc and even though I’ve not seen him for quite some time have not been discharged.
Of course they need to know how successful or otherwise their various treatments have been over the long term. In that regard I sometimes recent a questionnaire from the arrhythmia nurse.
From the west coast of Canada, I email my EP in Bordeaux, France for post ablation care. Generally, she answers the next day. However, I have kept the emails to a minimum -- only when really necessary.
Thanks very much everybody
My take home from this is that if you don't ask you won't get and if you do you might
So I'll find out but if we all took this approach our docs wouldn't have any time to see patients!
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