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Online access to my GP records - what an exciting concept. Let's see how it works. #NHS #digitalhealth
So according to the NHS info, all I have to do is pop down to my GP surgery and get them to generate a username and password for me. I did that, and it was a quick process to get the info. nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/…
So this is the menu after I logged in. Some options are unavailable for some reason (greyed out) - looks like I can't view my full patient record 
In terms of the summary patient record, it provided info on my allergies, acute medication, current repeat medication, past repeat medication - Not that useful for me right now, I was hoping to see all my medical records. Oh dear.
I got an email just after I logged in to see my GP record informing me my account has been accessed. I logged out and back in, and it triggered another email. That's a good thing from a security perspective as a patient.
So there was a section where I could request access to my full clinical record, it says a member of the practice will review my request. Fingers crossed. Personally, I'm curious to see if any errors exist in my records.
Ooh this is useful. Saves me having to phone up the surgery. So 9pm on a Wednesday, the surgery is closed but I can book an appointment to see my GP on Friday evening. That's convenient.
There is a menu which allows me to request a (repeat) prescription, and the prescription would be sent to the pharmacy directly. That's quite good too, in terms of being able to initiate the process at any time.
Apparently, the new NHS app by 1st a July 2019 will allow anyone in England to securely view their GP medical record - that would be better than having to login via my laptop. Not yet available for my surgery yet. Only the symptom checker.
So back my parents, both of whom have long term conditions and are on multiple meds, I did ask them if they were going to get access to see their records online and they didn't show much interest.
I found a post written 10 years ago citing @amirhannan which encouraged patients to demand online access to their medical records! blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2009/02/18…
Back to the new NHS app, maybe I'm jumping ahead, but I wonder if it alerts you with a notification when new information has been added to your medical record? i.e your blood test results have just been added online and are ready to view.
Another idea. Let's say I got access to my medical records in full and test results too. Would there be any value in a validated NHS chatbot that I could chat with at any time, and ask questions such as, "What does this remark against my earlier diagnosis mean?"
Also, I wonder if the NHS app will allow patients to report side effects (rather than having to visit their GP/pharmacist or use the Yellow Card scheme online?) yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk
Fascinating to read this article by @amirhannan outlining why patients should get immediate access to lab test results degruyter.com/view/j/cclm.20…
Also I never considered that some patients might choose to receive their diagnosis by reading it in their online medical record vs talking to their HCP. Thought provoking research from Sweden. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.117…
Hmmm, looks like the new NHS app might not be as good as we had hoped hsj.co.uk/technology-and…
So managed to get the app to view my medical records, book appointments etc using my smartphone (thanks @Cherrysouth for the tip) - a bit clunky to use but works
Looks like I might not be able to see my historical medical record until April 2020 pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp-topics…
So after I went online and requested access to my patient record, access has now been granted by my GP practice. Whilst I can now view my patient record, letters and test results online, it's limited to only the last 12 months. Still, very useful to read through the information.
Looks the #NHS app now offers me access to my medical records and booking appointments online. Exciting stuff! #DigitalHealth
In order to use link the NHS app to my GP surgery, I need to do a few things
So I've done all the steps including uploading the photo of my driving licence and uploading the video of me saying a particular code. I wonder if it's a human being that performs the check or a machine?
It must be automated checking as I got an email just a few minutes after I submitted the information very early in the morning
Need to agree to conditions of use before I can use #nhs app
I decided to read the terms of use for the #nhs app, fascinating to read and I wonder how many patients would take the time to read the entire document? Cc @roz_davies
So much important information is detailed away in the terms of use. I wonder if they could have provided a better summary in addition to the actual terms? I suspect patients will click these boxes without reading as they trust the NHS
Good to know the NHS app does not stay logged in all the time to your account
Main menu of the app. The consultations part related to my doctor visits , I found info back to 2002 (that's 17 years of history) - gosh, it really feels like a huge step forward as a patient to be able to view that data on my phone! #digitalhealth
So clicked to book a doctor's appointment, and this screen popped up - that's a good move to get the patient to choose wisely
Wow, so it's 5.14am and using the NHS app, I could in theory book an appointment with my GP first thing in the morning.
Time to get back to viewing my medical records and to see if there are any errors recorded in them.
Looks like I can't use the #nhsapp when outside of the UK (makes sense for security given it shows medical records) - I get this message when I try opening it when in the USA (cryptic message, they could at least tell you why) #digitalhealth #FOIM19 cc: @roz_davies @amcunningham
So if I can't access my medical records outside of the UK with the #nhsapp, that's a negative in a way, i.e. during my travels in the US if I needed to visit a doctor here, I wouldn't be able to share my medical records with the doctor
A week after I scraped my knee in San Diego my knee has swollen and appears infected, so I went to urgent care here in London
I was seen quite promptly by a doctor who confirmed it was infected, prescribed antibiotics and given I'd fallen on the road, asked me when my last tetanus shot was..he didn't have access to my medical records, I couldn't remember, but I told him I'll check on the #nhsapp 😀
So I opened the #nhsapp in the treatment room, attempted login, but could not complete login to the app because the app sent a security code by SMS, and I had no mobile signal in urgent care (free WiFi though) - not a good situation cc: @NHSDigital
Told the doctor I couldn't login to the #nhsapp so he suggested a tetanus booster as a precaution. A real shame there are not other ways of receiving the security code to enable login to the app, such as email
Whilst the doctor was arranging a dressing for my knee, he was embarrassed to ask me to fill in this survey to rate him in "real time" - he left the room whilst I filled it in - this must be a recently implemented method of gathering patient feedback at this #nhs facility
Whilst browsing my medical records on my phone using the #nhsapp this evening, I was thinking about the medical abbreviations used by doctors in my records and even with a glossary, would some patients need further help to interpret the information?
Right so I have to go back to urgent care today, after the practice nurse at GP surgery yesterday told me to get my knee wound checked out as the swelling hasn't gone down enough.
So as a patient, I will walk in to urgent care, and when seen, since their computer system doesn't have access to the data from my visit to the practice nurse yesterday, they will ask me for details. I will then show them my medical records using the #nhsapp on my phone!
Those medical records in the #nhsapp include yesterday's visit to the practice nurse, where she documented the visit (and the recommendation to go back to urgent care) very lucidly in terms of clinical coding and free text notes. As a patient, it's fascinating to read.
So on one hand, it's incredibly powerful to finally be able to see some aspects of my medical records on my phone with the #nhsapp, but on the other hand, I feel like the burden is on me to show the urgent care doctor my medical records from the app to explain why I'm there again
At one level, I guess it's good to have the #nhsapp to be able to share data with doctors/nurses but some patients might say, why are you asking me to do this "work" because your computer systems still don't talk to one another?#interoperability
Looks like the practice nurse gave me incorrect advice yesterday by telling me to visit urgent care. After being seen at urgent care, they tell me they have no facilities to scan my knee for haematoma and that can only be done at Accident & Emergency (ER) at another hospital.
The nurse who saw me at urgent care was blown away when I showed her my medical records on the #NHSApp as I wanted to explain what happened when I was seen by the practice nurse - "You're so organised", she exclaimed
What's fascinating is that in urgent care, as a patient armed with the #nhsapp I have access to my medical records, whilst none of the healthcare professionals in this facility can access my records (and the nurse was writing my symptoms on a sheet of paper)
Looks like I don't need to go to Accident & Emergency after all. They are now doing an X-ray of my knee and mentioned something about a virtual fracture clinic. Let's see what happens.
Back to the #nhsapp - the nurse and I wondered if a patient with multiple LTCs, in their 70s, on multiple meds, would be wandering into the hospital showing their (much longer) medical records on their smartphone to the healthcare professionals? As in how many would be tech savvy
I have a phone with a very large screen so viewing my medical records on the #nhsapp is quite easy. If someone has a phone with a small screen or if they are are vision impaired, could they still view their records?
Just checked and it appears like the #nhsapp has been designed with #accessibility in mind - would still need to test it though to see how well it works when viewing medical records on the phone accessibility nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/…
So got seen by the doctor who examined my knee, looked at the X ray, and told me it's probably not infected because my temperature (taken a few minutes ago) is not sky high, but the swelling could be blood that needs draining.
He referred me to the virtual fracture clinic (VFC) by writing something on a piece of paper (difficult to read), told me to take the paper to urgent care reception and they will do the referral on the computer
So I did that and the lady at reception then handed me another piece of paper, with instructions about what will happen next
VFC will call me between 9am-12pm on Friday, Monday or Tuesday to discuss next steps. If nobody calls, I'm supposed to chase them next Wednesday morning.
In terms of viewing details of this referral and the clinical encounters this week in urgent care, it's going to be several weeks before that shows up in the #nhsapp as letters will be mailed out to my GP who has to code info into my record *sigh*
In an ideal world, this information from the hospital network would be electronically transferred into my GP records fairly swiftly. Also, the referral to the VFC, why are we shuffling pieces of paper as patients from one part of the hospital to the other?
And staying on the VFC referral, I wish that information would appear in the #nhsapp right now so that everything related to my care is in one place, accessible without delay. One can dream, right?
Very impressive NHS service, got a call this morning from VFC, am booked in on Monday for them to see my knee. In the digital era, I wish they could have pushed the appointment details to the #NHSApp on my phone and the app would automatically create an entry on my calendar.
So I had an ultrasound test this month, and what's incredible as a patient is that I was able to view the results of the ultrasound in the #nhsapp ONE DAY AFTER the test. I can actually read a detailed report, it truly is amazing to have a chance to read this as a patient.
The only thing is that I discovered the results by accident after casually exploring the #nhsapp last week. The app ideally should notify you as a user when new data is available to view (appointments, test results, prescriptions etc)
I've been wondering how to leave feedback directly in the #nhsapp - one immediate option is tapping on the feedback tab on the right hand side. 1st you tap on one of 5 smiley faces, then you get a chance to give actual feedback
Then whilst I was wandering around the #nhsapp a popup appeared asking for my feedback, this time only 3 initial options and also once you submit your detailed feedback, a choice of whether I want my feedback linked to data about my visits to the app
I am curious how many patients would not give consent and how many would actually click to find out more information about the reason for asking consent to link their feedback to their visit data? #nhsapp
What I'd really like to see once the #nhsapp is connected to every GP practice is data on who in the patient population actually uses the app and which parts of the app they use. For example, is it wealthy, iPhone users with above average education that end up being the majority?
Using the #nhsapp on my phone to book an appointment with my GP is very interesting. A great alternative to having to phone up during office hours and wait to speak to the receptionist to plead for an appointment as quickly as possible.
Now this is what's interesting. Earlier this evening, I opened the #nhsapp and looked to see when the earliest appointment would be this week, and the app said Wednesday. When I've checked again after midnight, there is now an appointment available on Tuesday!
I've noticed that before when looking at appointment availability in the #nhsapp, in terms of availability changing during the night (maybe another patient cancelled their Tuesday appointment using the NHS app on Monday evening and that's why it was now visible at 12.30am?)
As a patient booking a GP appointment using the #nhsapp, I have the ability to put in the reason for this appointment
So appointment with GP booked using #nhsapp - I wish the app was like the Eventbrite app, i.e you can just tap to add the event to your calendar
Just visited the GP and it was really interesting as I had examined my test results as well as my medical record using the #nhsapp before the appointment. I actually used this information to drive the conversation with the GP. It felt great!
I was talking about a procedure that I underwent 10 years ago, and whilst the GP was scrolling through their computer system to find details of it, I managed to find the details and date in my records before the GP using the #nhsapp on my phone
I then showed the doctor what I found, and that helped them locate the right section on their computer system. Sadly only coded information was available, i.e the scan of the paper letter from 2009 was not available
The GP dashed out to check if that letter was maybe stored in the back in the paper notes, but it wasn't (reflects that I changed GP years ago when I moved house) - felt weird that they don't have access to everything
What's fascinating is that for the consultation, I was facing the doctor, but for much of it, the doctor was listening or talking to me whilst having to stare at the computer screen, which was odd, especially at the end when discussing the summary of the visit
I was very happy that the doctor took the time to ask me what mattered to me, and it felt like shared decision making to me. Overall, I'm delighted that the #nhsapp is here because it's definitely helped me as a patient
Moments after I left the GP surgery, I could login to the #nhsapp and see exactly what had been entered into my medical records by the GP from that visit. Simply incredible to have access to this information so quickly as a patient.
I did ask about booking of appointments online via the #nhsapp and was told that as a practice this is very new for them and that they have to offer a certain number of appointments for each method (online, phone etc)
Got an email today informing me I can now use all the features of the #nhsapp as my GP surgery is connected. What's funny is that I've been using all the features for 22 days since I accidentally discovered on 12th March that my GP surgery was connected to the app 😁
Went to login to #nhsapp this morning, the terms of use and privacy policy has changed but no easy way of determining what exactly has been changed in the update cc: @roz_davies @amcunningham
