Your Record or theirs

The federal government is advertising “Your health record in your hands”. This is equivocal. The word “your” refers to records kept by a hospital or medical practitioner and accessible on the internet. These records often differ from those kept by the patient. They are versions of the facts edited by doctors and hospitals and passed from one to the other with all their inaccuracies. They do not constitute what government would persuade us are our records. They record what medical practitioners decide to include in their reports and what they decide to omit. On the plus side for patients we are offered a choice as to whether we participate in the system. Until mid October 2018.

– Vanessa Toomey, Bellevue Hill, NSW