Quick qestion re: Access to mental health records

[caz23]

I have recently requested and receivied copies of my mental health notes from both the CMHT and my local psychiatric unit where I have been seen as an outpatient.

Now the notes that I have received from the CMHT all seem to be present & correct and include my initial referral letter signed by my GP and details of any subsequent telephone contact between my GP and the department. So no problems there.

However, I do feel as though some portions of my notes (although minimal) from the psych unit are missing, and infact what I have noticed the most is that there is absolutely no correspondence from my GP. No referral letter or anything. Now obviously I know that they're in my file as my GP always tells me if she's written to them and frankly I've seen them with my own eyes whilst they flick through my notes during appointments.

I by no means wish to complain about my care, I just want to sort of piece things together really and feel as though the inclusion of the letter from my GP would prove to be quite useful. So I just wanted to ask if anybody here has requested their psych notes and if you did, were letters from your GP included?

I just find it a little odd that that have included them in one set of notes and not the other. I have contacted the records manager this morning and also the ICO for advice, however in the meantime I thought I'd ask here to see what experiences other people have had.

Thanks in advance :)

[sherlock holmes]

My notes are all over the place. I can only imagine that someone dropped them as they were photocopying them, or couldnt be bothered to copy everything. Some things have been copied twice and other things are out of order.

Or perhaps it was decided that certain things should be removed from your notes as it might be distressing?

Maybe give them a ring and ask if the referral from your GP should be in there. I've never seen that from my GP either. Your GP would have that on your medical records though, so maybe it's worth getting those too.

[caz23]

"My notes are all over the place. I can only imagine that someone dropped them as they were photocopying them, or couldnt be bothered to copy everything. Some things have been copied twice and other things are out of order." - I think that my notes have been given the same level of care and attention then!

I can understand them withholding something if they thought it would cause significant distress, but in all honesty, reading through my referral letter to the CMHT from my GP and any other correspondence has merely reinforced my respect and admiration towards my GP.

Hmm, maybe if you didn't have any letters from your GP in your notes then perhaps they just don't include them then. But if thats the case, why did I receive them in my CMHT notes but not my psych notes?! I did consider getting copies of my GP records too, but in all honesty I don't really want them and I'm not willing to fork out another £50 just to see a few letters when I know they're already in my psych records, which incidentaly I requested in their entirety.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to reply. I spoke to the records manager earlier and she said that she's going to have a look into it for me so will just have to wait to hear back from her I guess.

[Angel2fire]

I don't think mine included any letters from my GP, and a lot of notes that included details of a third party were blacked out (for instance when the psych saw my parents without me.)

I imagine your medical notes would have the letters in though. I am just about the request my medical notes, so am not really clear on that but I hope you manage to get access to them :)

[startingagain]

Maybe you could ask to see your GP records as that is free. I've just asked to see copies of all my records because I didn't want to have them around.

[caz23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel2fire

I don't think mine included any letters from my GP, and a lot of notes that included details of a third party were blacked out (for instance when the psych saw my parents without me.)

Hmm, maybe its just not standard practice to include them then. And if I'm honest I probably wouldn't be questioning their absence if weren't for the fact that they were included in the notes from the CMHT. Strange. I can't think why I wouldn't be entitled to them though, its not as if my GP would be considered a third party.

Bah, anyway, will wait and see what the records manager has to say when she gets back to me next week... probably just feed me some lame excuse!

[Geranium]

It sounds more likely to be an administrative issue than them wanting to stop you seeing them. (Although in some cases they can with-hold highly distressing information, it doesn't sound like this is the reason in this case.)

Is it possible that their office keeps the initial referrals in a separate place not with individual patients notes?

For the future you could ask your GP if you can have a copy of any letters he/she writes concerning you. My GP asks if I want to be copied in anyway - so it can't be a particularly unusual practise.

[akita]

I think that's why some parts of my file were left out.