I’m just posting to get some clarification on what steps I need to take to report this. I have a family member who go works as a receptionist at a GP surgery. On a few occasion, they have made comments and attempted to “triage” (as she calls it) some family’s health in a way that made me suspect they have been accessing records. Most recently, however, they verbatim said “I looked at his records and it says xyz” when discussing an elderly family members health after a hospital visit and difficult diagnosis. I would normally report directly to their practice manager, however I don‘t know what surgery she works at. What would be the best course of action here?

The lung consultant told me that I, as the patient, can’t ask her for my CT scan result and she can’t send it to me. Instead, she said I have to contact a service called PALS, which I’ve never heard of, to request my own scan.

Is that normal? A doctor friend told me that I should be able to request my own medical reports directly from the lung specialist but she said she couldn’t provide me with my CT scan.

Could you please advise whether this is standard practice, or whether I should be able to obtain my CT scan directly?

Side note: In what crazy world does a third-party private company have access to my CT scan before I do, and that I apparently have to ask them for a copy of my own medical imaging.

Hi all, would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

I am a third year medical student transferring to Scotland for my clinical years. For context, I had a second sarcoma recurrence earlier this year (originally diagnosed in 2021 and achieved full remission, first recurrence 2024 and also achieved full remisson). I underwent definitive surgery and currently am NED on adjuvant chemotherapy which I am tolerating quite well.

When the university found out about my condition, they heavily encouraged me to defer, which was an option I considered before declaring my condition. However, I had weighed the pros and cons and decided that the best way forward is to continue with my studies. A full years accommodation have been paid for in advance, I am quite well functionally and socially (3-5km runs, no neutropenia), and my treating consultant has written a support letter stating my fitness to study. I also barely missed classes and participated in >95% of my home institution’s activities for my first and second year of medical school. I did well academically, and all the while they did not realize I was going through anything until I told them myself. I have had this condition for so long, it is part of my life, and I don’t see it as a health vs academics issue. I am able to handle both and I have their support and witness to this.

Furthermore, a deferment would result in significant consequences such as financial ramifications for my family who has to support me another year (I have already lost two years total as a result of my disease), and psychological impact on having my batch mates move on and having no friends when I enrol again after my deferment. That being said, I appreciate the university’s concern and that they have a genuine desire to see me succeed. I also acknowledge that they have to make their own assessment of the matter.

While I am unsure if a period of deferment could be enforced by the university, or if me turning up to enroll despite their “recommendation” could strain relations between me and the university, that is not the main issue. The main issue is this - my current treating consultant has a personal contact in a sarcoma specialist hospital in England that she has referred me to. I, however, am based in Scotland. I am aware of the complications within the NHS. In the case that I am allowed to come by the university itself, is there a realistic referral pathway for me from registering at my local GP in Scotland to getting my final cycles of treatment at a specialist hospital in England?

Hi everyone,
I’ve got an interview for a Band 5 NHS School Speech and Language Therapist role, and it’s literally my dream job.

I have just over 2 years of paediatric SLT experience.
The process is a little different as the first day is an assessment centre with a group task, and only successful candidates will be invited back for the panel interview the next day.

Last week I interviewed for another Band 5 NHS role, but unfortunately I wasn’t successful. I received feedback that I needed to give more detailed answers, use more examples, and structure my responses better. I was also extremely nervous, and it’s really knocked my confidence. Now this interview feels so important that I’m worried I’ll let my nerves get the better of me again.💔💔😔

If you’ve been through a children’s NHS Band 5 interview or assessment centre or anything similar, I’d really appreciate any advice.
What was the group assessment like?
What were the interview questions?
What were they looking for?
Any tips for managing nerves?

Is it actually possible to get an NHS band 5 job?

Thank you so much!

The interview involves a short (10-minutes) administrative test prior to a 30 minutes interview. What can I expect in the adminitrative test? Would really appreciate any feedback/suggestions to help me prepare!!

I want to preface this with the fact everyone in the NHS I've come into contact with in my life so far has been brilliant in terms of their individual efforts and I have huge respect for all NHS workers.

I've been waiting nearly 3 months now for gastro biopsy results and I'm really confused why this particular part of the process is so lengthy. Overall its been 6 months since seeing the GP to this stage. So in the first 3 months I got GPs appointment, bloods, follow up call, gastroscopy booked in and done. Which to be honest given all the pressure on the NHS I feel isn't bad at all.

But I must admit I'm struggling to understand now why when I ring up now every week or so, I'm getting told that they are really sorry for the wait and will chase up the consultant and then hear nothing. If the biopsy samples are processed and tested, by the sound of it the results interpreted and I'm just waiting on a letter to be drawn up / signed off, can't they just tell me the results on the phone or something?

Sorry to sound negative. At the end of the day I know there will be other higher priorities than mine, but I feel like it would be good to understand a bit more about what kind of pressures and blockers departments like gastroenterology are facing - is it just sheer lack of available qualified staff? And is this kind of wait the norm for this kind of thing now? I was told 8 weeks max. but its dragging on...

Hey everyone :)

I recently went to my GP about joint pain/limb numbness that I've had issues with since childhood, and it has been worsening quite a lot more recently, and they referred me over for a physio assessment.

I went to the physio assessment and they looked at me for about 5 minutes tops and then said that the NHS wouldnt accept a referall for me to have physio for "general aches and pains", only if I had a specific issue or injury in one area or a diagnoses. The Physio assessor then just kept mentioning a good private clinic i could go to instead, several times, and that was it for the appointment. I have a lot of medical anxiety and struggle to even go to doctors appointments unless im feeling truly awful, so i also struggle to push things further or advocate for myself, so i did feel really distraught/disappointed after the appointment with no help.

I was just wondering if this is normal? Has anyone else been met with the same issue? Can you really not get a Physio referal for joint issues? I slightly understand not wanting to refer for something undiagnosed I suppose, but then I'm also confused on how you're meant to get a diagnoses if you cant go to see anyone.

I've booked a session privately now anyway, as I'm honestly just sick of being in pain all the time, so hopefully they may be able to help, but just curious on others experiences.

Thanks!

Hey everyone. I'm Polish, but I’ve been living in the UK for almost 20 years now. I genuinely used to believe that Polish public healthcare was really bad, but lately, I’ve had to deal with the NHS more often, and I’m starting to reconsider that.

1. The new digital GP registration system is horrible. I wanted to book an appointment for my little one, so I sent a message in the morning. They messaged back via the NHS app asking if I preferred a telephone or in-person appointment. I replied that we needed an in-person appointment. Then, radio silence for the next 8 hours. At 5:30 PM, an appointment suddenly appeared in the NHS app for 5:40 PM - with zero notifications sent and just a 10-minute heads-up! Thankfully, I was really fuming at that time and had been constantly checking the app. The worst part is they say that if you miss an appointment, they might remove you from the patient list! This is the third time we've had this exact issue since the online system was introduced. On another occasion, my child had an infection, so we needed to bring a urine sample to the appointment. We only found that out during the appointment itself because there was no mention of it anywhere in the app beforehand.

2. As a cybersecurity specialist, online privacy matters a lot to me. When online registration was first introduced, our surgery put a link to Accurx on their website (thank goodness I bookmarked it). A few weeks later, they removed the Accurx link and replaced it with a third-party mobile app link. Accurx link was gone, nowhere to be found. This mobile app requires a separate registration and shares data via NHS APIs with a company likely based somewhere like the Bahamas. Meanwhile, it’s been almost a year since the NHS made online appointment systems mandatory (which led my surgery to adopt them), yet the official NHS mobile app still can't be used to book these appointments - even though it uses the exact same APIs as the third-party apps that can.

3. The struggle to get a basic pediatric blood test. My 3-year-old needs a blood test. Because of her age, my surgery can't draw blood, so it has to be done at the hospital. However, online booking for hospital appointments doesn't work for 3-year-olds. I was advised to call the hospital's booking line and was given a number. I tried calling hundreds of times over 5 days, and nobody ever answered. Finally, today I took a half-day off work and went to the hospital in person at 4:30 PM. I was told the person managing those bookings had just left for the day, though they confirmed the number was correct and had no idea why no one answered for 5 days. I was promised that the booking manager would call me tomorrow - but I was warned that the nearest available slots to get blood drawn is in mid-September, two months away.

4. Complete brush-off for chronic joint injury. As a teenager back in Poland, I had a motorcycle accident - I tore my posterior cruciate ligament completely and my medial collateral ligament partially. This left me in cast for about 2 months and then on very long rehab - but the only surgery i had was removing blood from the knee a couple of times. Now that I'm getting older, my knee has started giving me serious grief: it hyperextends slightly, can be pulled loose, and worst of all, occasionally triggers unbearable pain for days or a week at a time. When it flares up, I can barely walk and it is completely impossible to step up onto a stair or step. I went to my GP, explained the history, and was stunned to be told they "can't do anything about it" and that I should just take paracetamol when it hurts.

It takes me about half an hour to be able to blow my nose because of various ailments I have reported over the years (I'm 28) only to be not taken seriously. I was born with a perforation in my eardrum & a leaky tear duct on that same side yet nothing has ever been done about it they just say we will refer you and that never happens, no matter how much it is chased up.

I'm pretty sure that jess's rule is bullshit because they don't actually listen to it as it's not a law.

What the fucking fuck is wrong with this country?!?!!;

Apologies if this isn't allowed but unsure where to go.

I had surgery for cancer last year and do not recall giving permission/consent for a student and have noticed on my recently obtained post op notes it mentions a name and student next to it in the assistant box. For example Sarah Student(not the name)

I will of course be double checking my consent form before doing anything but just wanted to know what the process would be please.

Please note that I'm aware students need to learn etc and I'm usually ok with it but it's been a very vulnerable and traumatising time for me.

EDIT to add that I'm not asking for your opinions on having a student in the op theatre etc the issue is about consent which like it or not is a requirement by the GMC and there for a reason