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UP-to-date and online: Margaret Rickson looks at her records
Online records are just what the doctor ordered
24/ 9/2008
A doctor who won the trust of serial killer Harold Shipman’s patients by giving them full access to their medical records now wants other GPs to do the same.
Dr Amir Hannan says 400 patients from the Thornley House Medical Centre in Hyde are now using a secure website to look at their GP notes, order repeat prescriptions and check letters from specialists.
He says the service has allowed people to take control of their health by chasing up hospital appointments and learning more about how to manage their conditions.
It goes well beyond the government’s pilot which puts medical records on to a computer system which can be accessed anywhere in the NHS.
Dr Hannan will be advising other GPs and regional health bosses to roll out his system, at a meeting with senior officials this week, but he hopes patients will start asking their GPs for something similar.
He said: "I was prompted to start this system because of what my patients had been through and I have found it has helped build a partnership of trust. I felt I had to go further to establish a good relationship with them. My patients can review what they have been told and be reminded of what happened, who said what, when and where and what was agreed. Patients are a great untapped resource and they have a huge role to play in improving the service the NHS provides. I want other people to adopt our system to help the NHS deliver a better service, we are hoping to change Shipman’s legacy from the grief and carnage that he created in Hyde to something positive which makes people less fearful and more comfortable with the medical profession."
Most recent 2 of 4 user comments
29/09/2008 at 15:32
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I work for the NHS and am a patient of this Surgery and am therefore qualified in my view of this. I agree it IS a good move to put records on an IT system, as you state this does save an inordinate amount of time reviewing records when time is of the essence but this should be done by IT workers not a qualified Doctor who's main priority should be to have his time available to see the Patients who need to see him. Medical records in the NHS have been online for quite sometime now, the only "new thing" this particular system does is give the patient themselves access to their records. Here in the UK it is often hard enough to get an appointment when you require one, so to have a Doctor spending time developing this system is a waste of their training and time .... that is the point that I am making.
Regards
Dennis
4/10/2008 at 01:59