In message <[log in to unmask]>, Paul Caldwell
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Depends. If you say to the pt "if it's serious/significant , i'll be in
>contact, no news is good news" and you don't then you are liable surely? If
>you say, "phone up for the result in a week", then it's the pts
>responsiblitiy. Our local LMC confirms that it is generally accepted that it
>is on the onus of pts to get their result. BUT it might be v difficult to
>justify to a court not actively following up a serious result (Ca+ve smear
>etc) even if you asked the pt to check up.
Isn't this part of the problem? You'd chase up an abnormal result - but
is a positive pregnancy test abnormal?
( I nearly had a patient caught on this - when we were doing pregnancy
tests on the NHS; fortunately she'd had a smear - so I asked what she
was doing about the positive pregnancy test..!)
Mary
Mary Hawking Kingsbury Court Surgery Church Street Dunstable LU5 4RS
tel:01582 663218 (surgery)fax:01582 476488 (surgery)
Member of British Healthcare Internet Association
Dunstable and Houghton Regis Locality Commisssioning Pilot
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|