My partner has had those blood tests they do as part of your middle-aged health check and was told he has to pay £5 for a printout of the results - ??
He had the blood draw maybe last week and his appt to discuss results was this afternoon so these aren't old results. I thought recent results were free and older results could cost a nominal sum to cover the cost of printing.
I said he should tell them he's entitled to his results and they should be free of charge. Am I missing something?
Written by
puncturedbicycle
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Thanks RedApple. Well it does say £10 is the maximum cost for getting a copy so I guess they're in the clear in the letter (if not the spirit) of the law.
If it's only one or maybe two sheets of paper, I can't see any need to charge more than £1 to cover paper and ink.
I was once told by a receptionist I could view on screen and write the info down myself for free, which is ok if it's just a couple of results like TSH, FT4 etc. Not practical for a long list of stuff though.
He goes to a different surgery so I don't know the details (and to be fair they are his results and I don't want to belabour the point) but I will ask.
Patient access online was supposedly rolled out (NHS England only) a good couple of years ago now. You do have to apply / register, it's not automatic. I suspect some surgeries still haven't got their act together on this though.
I am registered for making appointments & repeat prescriptions. I spotted an option for electronic information, & asked to register for this, but my surgery doesn't offer the facility yet. I noticed a look of affront on the receptionists face. Why they think our personal information should not be readily shared with us, I cannot understand.
They'll be back to writing in latin as a way to be obstructive next, thank heavens for Google translate!
I have access to my Patient Record, which is effectively the coded record. Most things are recorded on NHS medical records in a consistent format, so that data mining is simple.
In having this, I can see all my appointments, decisions arrived at during the appointment, all test results and anything prescribed to me. What it doesn't show me is any detailed free-format my Doc might have made about the consultation, or any letters written or received. I do receive, by post, copies of any referral letters or Consultant correspondence, following a hospital appointment.
The big wins are having fast access to test results, rather then having to phone the surgery and have all that hanging on, and secondly, I can peruse things, including test results, in my own good time.
I have just applied for my blood test to be put on patient line had to fill in and sign a form ,still waiting it can take up to 21 days to view online, I thaught I read some where that it had been rolled out nationally ,I too have had odd looks from the receptionist as if I was plotting some thing evil .
My surgery charges well for Doctor Letter, but didnt for pages of results - but infuriated me first by saying 'they wd have to ask doctor first'. But l said l am entitled to my records. Got them few days later.
I suspect they need to run your results by a doctor just to confirm anything untoward has been made note of (ie they don't give you results that might distress you without having first spoken to you). In my surgery this is a formality and they do it before they give me every set of results. I appreciate that if your surgery is unhelpful it can look sinister but I have no trouble getting copies of my records and they still say a doctor has to have seen them first.
l dont trust Medical prof at all, and have worked in it before too. Doctors are now paid not to do certain tests, and are well practised at fobbing off
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