Dear Friends

What if the physician requests the test as for a private patient?  He pays his money and takes his choice.

There seems to me that there are two separate issues here:

1] doing a favour for the doctor by doing a test on him -- the doctor could easily have a hospital number within the hospital system owing to any number of minor issues and so could pass it through the system himself;

2] the larger issue of whether a doctor can clinically be in charge of him or herself (a poor practice indeed) or even members of the family


Lars Breimer


-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Jones [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 25 August 2000 14:22
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Doctors self requesting lab tests



------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	[log in to unmask]
To:             	[log in to unmask]
Subject:        	Re: Doctors self requesting lab tests
Date sent:      	25 Aug 2000 13:26:45 +0100

We have a strict departmental policy on this issue. Tests will only 
be
performed when the reports can be addressed to the physician
responsible for the patient. Physicians cannot be responsible for
their own medical care. Doing 'favours' for colleagues can be a
potentially dangerous activity particularly when unexpected
abnormalities are discovered. I believe that it is important to be
consistent in implementing this sort of policy and an example must 
be
set by the senior members of the department.



Dr Mick Henderson  FRCPath, FRCPCH
Consultant Paediatric Biochemist
Department of Chemical Pathology & Immunology
St James's University Hospital
Beckett Stree, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK

Tel   0113 2066861
Fax  0113 2065971


>>> DDA.RFC-822=acb-clin-chem-gen-request(a)mailbase.ac.uk 08/25/00
>>> 11:03am >>>
I would appreciate any thoughts members might have on doctors(hospital
or community) having lab tests requested on themselves only in their
name. Are they processed in the usual way, or done as a favour and not
registered on the computer database, or rejected unless there is a
copy requested to their own doctor? In our trust and possibly others
in the UK, doctors are not allowed to prescribe for themselves or
their family. Although doctors self requesting lab tests is generally
thought to be undesirable, I am not aware of any guidance on this
matter.

Many thanks

Roy Fisher
Royal Cornwall Hospital

------- End of forwarded message -------

Dr Rick Jones
Director of Chemical Pathology and Immunology
Institute of Pathology
Tel:(44)-113-233-5677
Fax:(44)-113-233-5672
http://www.acb.org.uk
http://www.yichi.org.uk
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/rdinfo //Winner - Best Health Database HC99


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