The right to record medical consultations - UK and other countries

JaneL

JaneL

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
UK patients have the right to record NHS appointments (including covertly)

I just wanted to make people aware that it is well within their right to record NHS appointments (or any interactions with NHS staff). This right extends to interactions with NHS staff in the social care setting. I thought this tool might be particularly useful to ME patients in certain circumstances, given the unique challenges they face. Such recordings might provide valuable evidence that would be useful to keep in case it were ever neeeded at a later stage. Many ME patients may also find it helpful to have recordings of their appointments given their difficulties with brain fog and memory problems. Although covert recording is discouraged, there are no rules against it.

The following quotes are from the NHS protect document “Patients recording NHS staff in health and social care settings” (2016)

Unlike medical professionals, who are expected by the General Medical Council to obtain patients' consent to make visual or audio recordings, patients do not need their doctor's permission to record a medical consultation or treatment.
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There are no specific legal requirements that govern an individual making a personal recording of their medical consultation or treatment, either overtly or covertly, for their private use. Recordings made to keep a personal record of what the doctors said are deemed to constitute ‘note taking’ and are therefore permitted when undertaken for this purpose. While a patient does not require permission to record their consultation, common courtesy would suggest that permission should be sought in most cases.

The content of the recording is confidential to the patient, not the doctor or healthcare staff. The patient can waive their own confidentiality as they wish; this could include disclosing the details of their consultation with third parties or even posting and/or sharing the recording in unadulterated form on the internet through social media sites.

The position may, however, change once a recording is no longer used as a record of the consultation, for example where the recording is disclosed or publicised in a modified way which is not connected to the consultation. This could include an instance where it is designed to cause detriment to or harass another individual captured in the recording. Any such disclosure or publication, depending on the nature and context, may attract a civil action for damages and may also be a criminal offence.

For more guidance please read in conjunction with NHS Protect’s document ‘Misuse of social media to harass, intimidate or threaten NHS staff’.
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https://www.seap.org.uk/getfile/7260/
 
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The position may, however, change once a recording is no longer used as a record of the consultation, for example where the recording is disclosed or publicised in a modified way which is not connected to the consultation. This could include an instance where it is designed to cause detriment to or harass another individual captured in the recording. Any such disclosure or publication, depending on the nature and context, may attract a civil action for damages and may also be a criminal offence.

This all seems highly ambiguous. It is not clear for what purposes an unmodified recording might be used.
 
Interesting. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV program Marketplace, has used hidden cameras to expose a number of questionable practices on programs about topics such as vehicle repairs, dental work, and breast implants.

I don't know if CBC/Marketplace has ever
been sued for its hidden camera sleuthing. The CBC is funded by the federal government.
 
My family member (not a pwME) records her NHS appointments and has found it very useful. She also asks for test results and scans etc to be emailed to her. I'm not aware of her having had any problems (in fact it was because she had her own x-ray copies that she was able to push past misdiagnosis and go on to have surgery for hip displasia).

I suppose it could feed into the idea of hypochondria/fabricating illness/'functional disorder' that some doctors hold, but otherwise it's a good idea.

edit - from x-rays to x-ray copies
 
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ScottTriGuy said:
Just as police physical assaults on the public plummeted after police officers started wearing body cams, I would suspect the verbal assaults of physicians on patients would also plummet if they knew they were being recorded.
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I haven't recorded an NHS appointment but I do take my husband with me to appointments. It is astonishing how much more polite doctors and other medical staff are to me when there is a witness, particularly when that witness is male.
 
I think recording of medico-legal assessment should be compulsory. Here is Australia you can be required to sign a legal form stating that you will not record a psych assessment. It is outrageous that they are allowed to hide the raw content of their assessments in this way. In effect they are making sure that there is no evidence for you to use in a complaint.

It is a licence to abuse patients and the whole assessment process.
 
Merged thread

I can't see an existing thread so am starting one to discuss a patient's right to record their medical consultations with GPs, Consultants and other health professionals. I thought many members may not be aware of their legal rights around this issue and that doing so may help them ensure the quality of future consultations and accuracy of medical records.

Also, members can discuss their personal experiences of this in the thread if they wish, but (unless the mod team move it) be aware that I have placed it in the public area of the forum.

In the UK (and probably Europe as we share the same data protection principles) it is legally allowable for patients to record their personal consultations.

See for example:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6297609/

https://www.sor.org/sites/default/f...9.1.13_re-draft_recording_of_images_final.pdf

I'll add other useful links as and when I'm able.
 
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Nice short (2 page) article that can be printed and handed to your GP if they seem uncomfortable about your request to record the consultantion or if they try to refuse it (UK based, but possibly applicable in other countries):

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/364/bmj.l1101.full.pdf

Edit: Or possibly emailed to them ahead of an appointment along with a message that you wish to record your consultations (with personal reasons if appropriate).
 
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alex3619 said:
Here in Australia the right to record medical interviews varies state by state, its important to check your own state's law.
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What are the laws in Australia. I know it is not legal to record private conversations in South Australia without the permission of both parties. Kind of nonsense that it's called a wiretap law when no actual phones are involved though...
 
Snow Leopard said:
What are the laws in Australia. I know it is not legal to record private conversations in South Australia without the permission of both parties. Kind of nonsense that it's called a wiretap law when no actual phones are involved though...
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I looked into this years ago. In some states it was even legal to record a medical interview and not tell them you are doing it. You would have to check your current state laws. They might even have changed since I last looked so there is no point in me telling you what little I recall at this point.
 
A quick google gives me this. It looks like it is from a company that provides medical indemnity insurance. I have no idea if it is accurate. (https://www.mdanational.com.au/advice-and-support/library/blogs/2017/07/recording-consultations)

In the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria there is no prohibition under listening or surveillance devices legislation against recording a private conversation that a party is involved in. In other states and territories, it is an offence to record a private conversation, unless specific exceptions apply. One of the exceptions is if all the parties to the conversation consent to the recording. Also in the ACT, NSW, Tasmania and WA an exception applies where the recording is not made for the purpose of communicating or publishing the conversation to any person who is not a party to the conversation.

In every state and territory, the consent of all parties to the conversation is required in order to communicate or publish the recording to any third party. Therefore, it is illegal in Australia for a patient to share a recording of a consultation without the consent of their doctor.
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USA residents:
Opinion: It's Your Right To See Your Medical Records. It Shouldn't Be This Hard To Do
https://www.npr.org/sections/health...medical-records-it-shouldn-t-be-this-hard-to-
In a study published last fall, we surveyed 83 top American hospitals and found discrepancies were common between the policies hospitals described on patient authorization forms and what employees later said to patients on the phone. On the forms, hospitals often did not provide an option to receive the entire medical record in digital format.
[...]
Many hospitals made it expensive to get records. Despite federal guidance that records delivered digitally should not cost more than $6.50, hospitals charged as much as $541.50 for a 200-page record, often without mentioning other options.

In another study, published in June, we showed how hard it is to get your radiology images. Almost every institution could provide them only on CDs, an antiquated technology. The cost could be as much as $75. If you wanted images from departments outside radiology, then you would need to make a separate request for each one.

In a preprint recently published on medRxiv, an online platform that shares research before it has been peer reviewed, researchers reported the results of a study of people's access to their medical records. The authors include Deven McGraw, former deputy director for health information privacy at the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights, who is now chief regulatory officer at Ciitizen.

McGraw and her colleagues found that the majority of the more than 3,000 health care providers they surveyed were violating rights concerning access to health care data. The most common failure was the "refusal to send records to [a] patient or a [patient's] designee by e-mail." Many health care institutions were also likely out of compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's limitations on fees.

Together, these studies show that many health systems around the U.S. fail to comply with the law by routinely violating people's right to access their digital health information.

So what can you do to improve your chances?
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See the rest of the article here:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health...medical-records-it-shouldn-t-be-this-hard-to-
 
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