I have had my blood test today for thyroid etc. I requested a copy of my blood test results and the receiptionist said: 'No problem, £10 please.' Pardon????
Is that a standard price for these kind of things or I just chose an expensive GP surgery? Why on earth we pay £100+ NI every month if I cannot even get a piece of paper for free / or just a couple of quid?
What! Is this legal? I had copies of mine recently for free. Perhaps The Patients Association could tell you, they have been great help to me with advice recently.
I get mine free, so far. Some charge a nominal sum for paper/ink etc. but £10 is over the top. Next time, take some paper and write them down with the ranges. Do this each time and tell them, if they query, that they charge too much.
Unfortunately they are allowed to charge, although many do not.
I get my tests privately at a cost of over £100 because of NHS failures (refusal to test t3, etc) - when the nhs asked for copies, I said sure, that'll be £100. They decided they didn't need a copy after all.
Works both ways
Oh, I must remember that one, brilliant
Exactly. I expected some charge i.e. postage, ink paper etc. but 10 quid is disgusting. They said I can phone the 'results line' where they would tell me my results but they are not qualified to tell me the ranges etc.
My surgery won't print them out. They say they only do that for consultants!(?). Therefore they arrange a telephone appointment with the practise nurse to tell me my results (crazy or what). Reception and the nurse are always seem bemused that I want to know the details, levels and ranges. It is a small rural practice though - I guess no one else bothers.
My surgery give me them for free but bizarrely when I asked the receptionist my TSH level on the latest results, she said she was 'not allowed to tell me'. I said 'ok, can I have a print-out then?' and she printed it and passed it to me! They all clearly have their own, odd rules but £10 pounds is extortionate!
I'm pretty sure that the rights aren't the same everywhere with regard to charges. And I may be being paranoid but I'm sure that it used to be possible to make an appointment to view your own records for free on a computer screen. But several pages I've looked at on the web seem to have had the language "fudged" and made less clear now, so I'm not sure about that bit any more.
Info on your rights regarding access to medical records from the Citizen's Advice Bureau :
England :
adviceguide.org.uk/england/...
Scotland :
adviceguide.org.uk/scotland...
Wales :
adviceguide.org.uk/wales/he...
Northern Ireland :
They are not allowed to make a profit on the printout (so says the Data Protection Act). It's a max of £10 for all your electronic records - so get them all or query the cost. If they won't print for less, they must allow you to copy the results down yourself. Or £50 for all records including paper, if you really want to annoy them.
just goes to show the ' foibles ' of the --system -- whereby all gp's can ,and are allowed to charge a maximum fee for '''' supplementary services '''' [ with a guideline charge ] .....and some do this to supplement their own salaries ......thank the good lord that I have a superb gp that has them to hand and gives FULL print outs everytime I visit him ......alan xx
My thyroid results were free no problem but whem I asked for other results primted out (ferratin etc) I was told by receptionist she would have to get permissions from doctor! X
I get mine for free, so far. However, they do have to ask the doctors permission to give me a copy every time. And even if I only ask for the most recent test I get a print out of every blood test I've ever had.
£10.00 are they using gold leaf paper? Last time I asked for a printout of blood test I was asked by the receptionist if I always have them printed as they dont usually do this. I just said I always have them and picked them up the next day. My GP will happily print out any letters or results when I see him.
Rhetty, my practice manager wanted to charge me £10 for 3/4 pages of results. I declined and made arrangements to view records online and make notes. This would have tied up a staff member to chaperone me so a stupid waste of resource. GP printed them off for me so I didn't need the viewing appt.
After subsequent tests when I requested the receptionist read the results with the lab ref ranges she first had to get permission from the practice manager and then said it was a waste of time and she would print off the results (free).
I would be inclined to speak to the Practice Manager about this excessive charge.
Recently paid £50 for a copy of 14 years worth of medical records, what a lot of paper and duplication particularly as I was an infrequent visitor.
Am I the only one who can see my results online? Last year I changed to a different surgery (long story....). They have an online booking system for appointments which I signed up for and then one day I noticed a sign in the waiting room saying that if you wanted to have online access to your medical record to speak to the receptionist. I did and after a couple of hiccups (a few problems with the password they allocated me) it worked! BRILLIANT! I can prepare for appointments with my GP. In fact, at my last appointment she said you'll see the results of your blood test online. You know what you are doing adjust your meds accordingly as we have discussed. It has really put me in the driving seat in managing my health and I am sure already saved me unnecessarily bothering the GP for things I know the answer to. I feel strongly that this system should be available at every surgery. I have also been able to look back several years at my test results and see how things were unfolding as I struggled to find out what was wrong with me........it has helped me to make sense of it all.......INTERESTING!
Wow, never heard of that before and how empowering for patients.
Is it something that'll be rolled out across the UK?
Empowering patients, what a novelty! I have just shelled out £160 for a full range of BH tests and a urine/Iodine test. Results were emailed to me and I printed them off. I am now "digesting" the results and will be posting in near future for advice! Much more sensible than seeing GP, 3 week wait there!
I recently had to pay £1 to have my test results printed out for me.
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