BMJ  2007;335:158 (21 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.39275.658171.59

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For patients' sake, don't boycott e-health records

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Can I be the only patient scratching my head about the BMA's decision to advise general practitioners to boycott the creation of summary care records for their patients? The new record has two main purposes: to provide the NHS with crucial patient information when none is available from other sources, and to give people themselves access to a good summary of their health records whenever they need it.

For me as a patient this means that anyone I ask to help me at evenings and weekends will know basic information about me. This is particularly important now that GPs no longer provide their own out of hours cover for us. Unfortunately, I find that I usually develop a raging urinary tract infection on a Friday night and it would be really helpful for the stranger I ring to know what antibiotics worked for me before, which one caused me to . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

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For patients' sake give us a genuine choice

Roger M Goss, et al.
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Good idea:; wrongly introduced

Joyce W Robins, et al.
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Marlene Winfield
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Pragmatism is required if the benefits of EHR are to be realised

Claudia Pagliari
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Re: Response to issues raised by my article

Paul Thornton
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Marlene Winfield, et al.
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Why are GPs in the UK saying no to the EHR?

Antony F Sara
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Reply re Liberty and Justice

Marlene Winfield, et al.
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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krishna chatterjee
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Re: Why are GPs in the UK saying no to the EHR?

Claudia Pagliari
bmj.com, 26 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Marlene Winfield
bmj.com, 26 Jul 2007 [Full text]

A simple solution - do the right thing

Roger M Goss
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Partnership of Trust

Amir S Hannan
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Civil liberties and privacy concerns

Phil Booth
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Is opting out in patients' interests?

Marlene Winfield
bmj.com, 3 Aug 2007 [Full text]

In some instances, clearly yes!

Phil Booth
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We owe the public accuracy

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