Have just been contacted by my GP who tells my wife and myself that due to a personal decision she is closing her practice at the end of March 2019. If we would like our medical files we can have same by paying a fee of €300-00. I have since found out she has serious medical issues. Thankfully my wife has always kept records and has copies of every medical concern/report over the past no of years that might have any concern. for us. My question is if this is the norm and what might happen if she became very ill and passed away before people got around to getting their medical records?
Doctors practice closing down - wants €300 for our medical file
- Thread starter noproblem
- Start date
Firstly, you are entitled to your medical records for free under the GDPR. If you are a medical card holder, you can also seek them for free under Freedom of Information legislation. If the GP holds a GMS contract, she is obliged to arrange handover of records to another GP.
There was an item on the radio just tonight about one of the cervical smear test scandals. They replayed an interview with an affected journalist who has since passed away, in which she was emphatic that you own your own medical records. Nobody is allowed to withhold them from you, and the idea of charging a substantial fee sounds highly dubious imho.
Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,116
I switched doctors last year and I presume the former doctor sent on my file to my new doctor.
Come to think of it, he might not have done.
Some charge is probably reasonable if one chooses to switch doctor. But probably not unreasonable if a practice closes. Having said that I presume that the old doctor would have to make copies of what is a very large file.
Brendan
Come to think of it, he might not have done.
Some charge is probably reasonable if one chooses to switch doctor. But probably not unreasonable if a practice closes. Having said that I presume that the old doctor would have to make copies of what is a very large file.
Brendan
No, the introduction of [broken link removed] legislation removed the option to charge a fee for processing such requests with the exception of cases where gathering the requested data involved significant administrative overhead.
See https://medisec.ie/News/Get-In-Gear---Data-Protection (here) for advice given to the medical profession, older guidance (p27) predating GDPR indicated they could charge up to the previously standard max €6.35 processing fee for such data requests.
€300 is a ludicrous amount for someone who was well paid for their service.
No, the case for significant overhead would not apply here, it's more to cover large organisations that might store data in multiple locations & formats. A doctor's surgery should maintain all data on a patient in a single folder, or within a software package.
DirectDevil
Registered User
- Messages
- 895
We had the experience a few years ago where our GP died and the practice was closed down i.e. nobody new continued it.
We were offered the option of transferring our charts to a new GP of our nomination.
We subsequently realised that what was transferred was not the entirety of our charts.
Therefore, we had to reconstruct elements of the charts by getting copies of reports from consultants and the like - it was a proper pain.
In short, if you can get physical possession of your entire chart from the practice that is the very best option to save a load of trouble.
We were offered the option of transferring our charts to a new GP of our nomination.
We subsequently realised that what was transferred was not the entirety of our charts.
Therefore, we had to reconstruct elements of the charts by getting copies of reports from consultants and the like - it was a proper pain.
In short, if you can get physical possession of your entire chart from the practice that is the very best option to save a load of trouble.
Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,116
They would have a very good reason to keep the originals - this very litigious society. A new doctor reviews the files and says "I wouldn't have done that...".
Brendan
Keeping the originals will hardly help the Dr though, unless of course they "add" to them if needs be?
Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,116
Of course it will help the doctor.
Let's say I claim that I told the doctor about a pain my back and the doctor dismissed it. If the doctor has the file, she can say that she listed out the various possible causes and told me to come back to her in a week if it had not improved. That she gave me the option of an x-ray to rule out anything serious but I rejected that because I was afraid of technology.
Brendan
Let's say I claim that I told the doctor about a pain my back and the doctor dismissed it. If the doctor has the file, she can say that she listed out the various possible causes and told me to come back to her in a week if it had not improved. That she gave me the option of an x-ray to rule out anything serious but I rejected that because I was afraid of technology.
Brendan
lads, does it really matter to most normal folk ? I have been to numerous different doctors all my life and anytime I go I try and remember any relevant information which may help the doc diagnose what's wrong. Brendan's post above gives the impression that we all need to call our lawyers if you go to the doctor now and they didn't diagnose something which may or may not have contributed to your current problem but someone is to blame.
Last edited by a moderator:
Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,116
Hi Elcato
No, but some will call their lawyers to try to blame their doctor which is why the doctor needs to keep the files.
Brendan
Yes I see your point, people will sue for damp toilet paper now in a pub toilet (I kid you not) but I've still not got a definite factual answer to my original query. Is a Dr allowed to charge a patient €300 for their files and is it the norm? I'd have thought they charge enough for their few minutes visit to have this well covered through a lifetime of patients visits.
The short answer is no. You can either join a new GP and ask them to contact your current GP and ask for the medical records. She won't dare ask for €300. Your other option is to make a request under Data Protection legislation. She is obliged to provide you with the records but can charge a small fee (under €10 I think). If you are a medical card patient, you can also make a request under the Freedom of Information legislation.
Are you sure the €300 is accurate and not just a mis-type?? She is basically holding your records to ransom and could find herself in serious trouble.
My mum was a doctor who ran her own practice for several years in the 1970s and 80s. She was obliged under the terms of her insurance to keep all paper records for a specified number of years (think it was 20?) against potential claims, even long after her retirement. Our garage was full of box upon box of moth eaten paper files for quite some time.
Along with a human skeleton she had used at university. Gave me quite a fright when I was looking for my teenage record collection, opened up a box and saw him staring up at me...
Along with a human skeleton she had used at university. Gave me quite a fright when I was looking for my teenage record collection, opened up a box and saw him staring up at me...