HSE record keeping

murphaph

Ok, so as we are expecting a baby here in Germany in a few weeks, my doc here asked me what I have been vaccinated against. He expected me to be able to produce a vaccination passport as every German has. Please note, this little booklet is a World Health Organisation thing, not a German thing. It is laid out in an international format so doctors who may not speak English or whatever can still understand it.

So, I thought ok, I suppose I should be able to find oit what I've been immunised for because if I can't, I'll need a blood test (€150) to find out.

So, I go and check the HSE website and lo and behold the organisation charged with organising immunisations in Ireland is NOT apparently bothered keeping organised records:

Health Service Executive (HSE) National Immunisation Office wrote:

Vaccination records
Where can I get a copy of my child’s vaccination records?

The National Immunisation Office does not hold vaccination records. The office does not have access to the vaccination records systems.

The primary childhood immunisation programme (vaccines given from birth to 13 months of age) is carried out in general practice. Your GP should have a copy of your child’s vaccination records for the vaccinations they have carried out. In addition, the records may be available from your local health office.

The school immunisation programme is carried out by the HSE school immunisation teams in most areas and the vaccination records will be held in your local health office. In a small number of areas the school vaccinations are carried out in general practice and records should be available through your GP or local health office.

...so I asked my mother to contact our GP (who was always a bit scatty tbh) and of course he has no records but "is pretty sure" of the vaccinations I would have received given my date of birth, Sorry, that's not really good enough for a modern western country.

There is now apparently no way for me to find out what I am immunised against and I'm going to have to fork out for a blood test. I see that the HSE still doesn't keep centralised records for immunisations and it is down to your GP to keep them (and hope his practice NEVER suffers a fire or flood or whatever). Haphazard mess. In Germany a centralised office records all this in case the Impfpaß that you keep yourself goes missing.

(btw, the Mickey Mouse thing the HSE produces is not of an international format for whatever reason they created their own version)

Why can't these people seem do anything right? Could we not do much better than this with the same resources if we had some direction/responsibility in the HSE?

ardmacha

While I don't disagree with your general point on record keeping, the vaccination passport is essentially a bearer document that you get stamped each time you get a jab. And whatever about the position when you were a baby, a modern central computerised record should be possible, but there is little or no computerisation of such things in Ireland.

dissed doc

murphaph wrote: »

Why can't these people seem do anything right? Could we not do much better than this with the same resources if we had some direction/responsibility in the HSE?

The HSE is also destroying almost 20 years of genetic screenings in newborns (heel-prick tests):

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hse-under-attack-for-destroying-heelprick-archive-3357505.html

It's as if there is a concerted effort to do things the wrong way.

MadsL

dissed doc wrote: »

The HSE is also destroying almost 20 years of genetic screenings in newborns (heel-prick tests):

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hse-under-attack-for-destroying-heelprick-archive-3357505.html

It's as if there is a concerted effort to do things the wrong way.

That was because there was no consent for their storage and retention. Data protection issue - effectively a DNA database.

Quiet Lurker

In most parts of Ireland the childhood immunisation office in the HSE local or regional office hold computerised records of vaccinations given to children for the past 22 - 23 years. Prior to that the health boards do not seem to have kept records. GPs are obliged to keep records for 7 years in general but in most cases keep them for many many years more than that. GP's that are computerised may have records for up to 20 years. Currently most GPs should be able to print a copy of your child's vaccination at the touch of a button.

Gumbo

The booklet is and should be saved by the patient. I have one for my son which shows dates, doctor and serial numbers of all injections and vaccinations.

We keep it at home and it stays with patient wherever they may end up.
Your parents may have binned yours over the years, just like mine.

You've got to remember that computers are only the norm in recent times, relatively speaking and databases from a generation ago predate FOI acts and can't be stored without consent.

Gumbo

murphaph wrote: »

Ok, so as we are expecting a baby here in Germany in a few weeks, my doc here asked me what I have been vaccinated against. He expected me to be able to produce a vaccination passport as every German has. Please note, this little booklet is a World Health Organisation thing, not a German thing. It is laid out in an international format so doctors who may not speak English or whatever can still understand it.

So, I thought ok, I suppose I should be able to find oit what I've been immunised for because if I can't, I'll need a blood test (€150) to find out.

So, I go and check the HSE website and lo and behold the organisation charged with organising immunisations in Ireland is NOT apparently bothered keeping organised records:


...so I asked my mother to contact our GP (who was always a bit scatty tbh) and of course he has no records but "is pretty sure" of the vaccinations I would have received given my date of birth, Sorry, that's not really good enough for a modern western country.

There is now apparently no way for me to find out what I am immunised against and I'm going to have to fork out for a blood test. I see that the HSE still doesn't keep centralised records for immunisations and it is down to your GP to keep them (and hope his practice NEVER suffers a fire or flood or whatever). Haphazard mess. In Germany a centralised office records all this in case the Impfpaß that you keep yourself goes missing.

(btw, the Mickey Mouse thing the HSE produces is not of an international format for whatever reason they created their own version)

Why can't these people seem do anything right? Could we not do much better than this with the same resources if we had some direction/responsibility in the HSE?

Also, from reading your post, it's a private sector GP that has messed here, not the public sector. I don't see why you can't argue your point with your doctor.

In my engineers office, we have to have safe storage of files, and that included placing them in fire proof boxes etc. it was our responsibility to keep the files safely.

Sorry, but sounds like an unjustified PS rant, I may be wrong and if I am, I apologise but it sure looks like that from here.

murphaph

kceire wrote: »

Also, from reading your post, it's a private sector GP that has messed here, not the public sector. I don't see why you can't argue your point with your doctor.

In my engineers office, we have to have safe storage of files, and that included placing them in fire proof boxes etc. it was our responsibility to keep the files safely.

Sorry, but sounds like an unjustified PS rant, I may be wrong and if I am, I apologise but it sure looks like that from here.

It's a rant about a broken system. You're the first person to mention the public sector.

We always seem to find excuses for why it doesn't work in Ireland but it works where I now live, no excuses.

Gumbo

murphaph wrote: »

It's a rant about a broken system. You're the first person to mention the public sector.

We always seem to find excuses for why it doesn't work in Ireland but it works where I now live, no excuses.

You mentioned the hse in the thread title and in your opening post.
Anyway, your gripe is with your GP for not storing the details.

The system works if you keep the booklet. I have none as my parents binned it, which I suspect a lot of parents did.

Kristopherus

murphaph wrote: »

Ok, so as we are expecting a baby here in Germany in a few weeks, my doc here asked me what I have been vaccinated against. He expected me to be able to produce a vaccination passport as every German has. Please note, this little booklet is a World Health Organisation thing, not a German thing. It is laid out in an international format so doctors who may not speak English or whatever can still understand it.

So, I thought ok, I suppose I should be able to find oit what I've been immunised for because if I can't, I'll need a blood test (€150) to find out.

So, I go and check the HSE website and lo and behold the organisation charged with organising immunisations in Ireland is NOT apparently bothered keeping organised records:


...so I asked my mother to contact our GP (who was always a bit scatty tbh) and of course he has no records but "is pretty sure" of the vaccinations I would have received given my date of birth, Sorry, that's not really good enough for a modern western country.

There is now apparently no way for me to find out what I am immunised against and I'm going to have to fork out for a blood test. I see that the HSE still doesn't keep centralised records for immunisations and it is down to your GP to keep them (and hope his practice NEVER suffers a fire or flood or whatever). Haphazard mess. In Germany a centralised office records all this in case the Impfpaß that you keep yourself goes missing.

(btw, the Mickey Mouse thing the HSE produces is not of an international format for whatever reason they created their own version)

Why can't these people seem do anything right? Could we not do much better than this with the same resources if we had some direction/responsibility in the HSE?

By this rant you have shown a basic ignorance of the immunisation systems in the country of your birth. You have concluded that the HSE is to blame. Well, the HSE is in existance since end of 2004.Before that there existed the Health Boards. These Boards were established under the Health Act 1970 and came into being in early 1971. Before that the Co Councils ran the health service.

In all probability you were born during the Health Board era. If that is so, then it is the GP who carried out the early immunisations. The Health Boards then established local Immunisation Depts. These offices then arranged the immunisations. There is every chance that your local immunisation will have a record of your immunisations. Go to the HSE website again and look up the number of the main local office in the county/town that you are from. They will be able to put you on to the appropriate Immunisation Office.

Cookie_Monster

never mind not storing record properly, they make them up too depending how they feel
have a read of this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056860764

murphaph

kceire wrote: »

You mentioned the hse in the thread title and in your opening post.
Anyway, your gripe is with your GP for not storing the details.

The system works if you keep the booklet. I have none as my parents binned it, which I suspect a lot of parents did.

The HSE are supposed to be the people running the show wrt health, no?

My gripe is with the entire system. As a patient, I DO NOT CARE if my GP is technically at fault. A system that has this single point of failure (and it's a very weak point) is clearly not fit for purpose.

My mother never got a booklet to bin but even if she had, it is a very poor way of keeping records. Would my bank just rely on my savings book as the only proof that I had money deposited with them? Hardly.

(cue the data protection act excuses etc.)

Gumbo

murphaph wrote: »

The HSE are supposed to be the people running the show wrt health, no?

My gripe is with the entire system. As a patient, I DO NOT CARE if my GP is technically at fault. A system that has this single point of failure (and it's a very weak point) is clearly not fit for purpose.

My mother never got a booklet to bin but even if she had, it is a very poor way of keeping records. Would my bank just rely on my savings book as the only proof that I had money deposited with them? Hardly.

(cue the data protection act excuses etc.)

Sounds like you have a gripe with the HSE while it was your GP that lost the details.
Were the HSE even around when you got your vacinations?
Also why does the Doctor want to know what vacinations you got as a child? When we had our first child, not once were we asked?

AlekSmart

murphaph wrote: »

The HSE are supposed to be the people running the show wrt health, no?

My gripe is with the entire system. As a patient, I DO NOT CARE if my GP is technically at fault. A system that has this single point of failure (and it's a very weak point) is clearly not fit for purpose.

My mother never got a booklet to bin but even if she had, it is a very poor way of keeping records. Would my bank just rely on my savings book as the only proof that I had money deposited with them? Hardly.

(cue the data protection act excuses etc.)

I think Murphaph,you've been away too long,and fallen-in with the wrong sorta gang...:rolleyes:

As you're probably gleaning from the responses,we do not in any way want to be seen to foster a culture of Accountability...top to bottom.

Ah wouldja go way outa dah,what do we need all dat oul stuff for anyway....:o

Pay the €150 and let the Germans do their thing,attempting to compare any facet of their systems with our own will see you facing vast Physchoanalysis bills !!!!

Freud's alledged statement on the Irish may not be far wrong you know !

hyperborean

Haha, you expected the health sevice within Ireland to have some sort of good practice when it comes to data on the indvidual?

And secondly you didnt imagine that the cadre of PS/CS workers lurking would not castigate you for these view?

Its simple, there is no accountability within the Irish health service or for that matter the PS/CS.

Obvious things like record keeping are never going to happen because then someone has to take responsibsilty for their upkeep and control over access.

Gumbo

hyperborean wrote: »

And secondly you didnt imagine that the cadre of PS/CS workers lurking would not castigate you for these view?

You do realise that the OP's private sector GP lost the files, dont you
I

I have no connection to the HSE, but im not blind to my personal responsibilities when it comes to keeping a record of my medical history.

The HSE wasnt around when the OP got these jabs as a child, but he was advised on how to chase the records from his local health board by another poster.

Maybe nowadays they are stored properly, but lets face it, a generation ago this wasnt possible.

tara73

murphaph wrote: »

My mother never got a booklet to bin but even if she had, it is a very poor way of keeping records. Would my bank just rely on my savings book as the only proof that I had money deposited with them? Hardly.

(cue the data protection act excuses etc.)

in fairness, you were vaccinated during a time where no computers existed in the health system, not in ireland and not in germany, so why expect more than the booklet, it was most approbriate for that days.

I have this booklet from germany, but I don't think my vaccination record is kept digitally. that would mean somebody must have put all the data from the german population for decades in a computer database in retrospect.
did you say this is the case? please show, can't believe it.

hyperborean

kceire wrote: »

You do realise that the OP's private sector GP lost the files, dont you
.

Grasping at straws? how many GPs in this country are not in the employ of the HSE? Or back then in the employ of the health service in their area.

The HSE should have kept records of all innoculations, they were the body purchasing the drugs and distributing to the GPs who provided the service under contract, but then I doubt they even have these obvious good practices now considering the poison from the top to the bottom that infects it, a poison going by the name of Unions and personal greed, lack of responsibility and inabilty to accept it by those in it have limited the HSE to the health administration levels of backward 3rd world countrys and yet we have the highest paid Doctors in Europe?

Gumbo

hyperborean wrote: »

Grasping at straws?

Dont know why you directed that at me?
You had a go at PS/CS employees, when it was a private sector GP that lost the details

Im actually confused at how some people respond to this
Can people not accept blame on themselves or their parents?

My mam got one, she binned it, she told me. I got one for my son, i kept it and have a detail record of jabs, serial numbers, batch numbers etc

sean200

murphaph wrote: »

Ok, so as we are expecting a baby here in Germany in a few weeks, my doc here asked me what I have been vaccinated against. He expected me to be able to produce a vaccination passport as every German has. Please note, this little booklet is a World Health Organisation thing, not a German thing. It is laid out in an international format so doctors who may not speak English or whatever can still understand it.

So, I thought ok, I suppose I should be able to find oit what I've been immunised for because if I can't, I'll need a blood test (€150) to find out.

So, I go and check the HSE website and lo and behold the organisation charged with organising immunisations in Ireland is NOT apparently bothered keeping organised records:


...so I asked my mother to contact our GP (who was always a bit scatty tbh) and of course he has no records but "is pretty sure" of the vaccinations I would have received given my date of birth, Sorry, that's not really good enough for a modern western country.

There is now apparently no way for me to find out what I am immunised against and I'm going to have to fork out for a blood test. I see that the HSE still doesn't keep centralised records for immunisations and it is down to your GP to keep them (and hope his practice NEVER suffers a fire or flood or whatever). Haphazard mess. In Germany a centralised office records all this in case the Impfpaß that you keep yourself goes missing.

(btw, the Mickey Mouse thing the HSE produces is not of an international format for whatever reason they created their own version)

Why can't these people seem do anything right? Could we not do much better than this with the same resources if we had some direction/responsibility in the HSE?

what has this got to do with the " IRISH ECONOMY"
wake up mode's

sean200

murphaph wrote: »

The HSE are supposed to be the people running the show wrt health, no?

My gripe is with the entire system. As a patient, I DO NOT CARE if my GP is technically at fault. A system that has this single point of failure (and it's a very weak point) is clearly not fit for purpose.

My mother never got a booklet to bin but even if she had, it is a very poor way of keeping records. Would my bank just rely on my savings book as the only proof that I had money deposited with them? Hardly.

(cue the data protection act excuses etc.)

Your gripe is with all the public sector
Your mother might be the problem as I have 3 kids, I have there 3 book in a safe place
You and your family need to start taking some responsibility but the best education is about to be giving to you when the baby arrives and you will have less time to be HSE/ public sector bashing

sean200

kceire wrote: »

Also, from reading your post, it's a private sector GP that has messed here, not the public sector. I don't see why you can't argue your point with your doctor.

In my engineers office, we have to have safe storage of files, and that included placing them in fire proof boxes etc. it was our responsibility to keep the files safely.

Sorry, but sounds like an unjustified PS rant, I may be wrong and if I am, I apologise but it sure looks like that from here.

I blame the Germans for this and what they have turned him into

Head The Wall

tara73 wrote: »

in fairness, you were vaccinated during a time where no computers existed in the health system, not in ireland and not in germany, so why expect more than the booklet, it was most approbriate for that days.

I have this booklet from germany, but I don't think my vaccination record is kept digitally. that would mean somebody must have put all the data from the german population for decades in a computer database in retrospect.
did you say this is the case? please show, can't believe it.

The lack of computers didn't prohibit the catholic church in this country from keeping records going back decades, people recorded data in books so i don't buy your excuse for them not keeping records.

murphaph

sean200 wrote: »

I blame the Germans for this and what they have turned him into

Someone who expects a functioning system for their tax dollar?

There is STILL no centralised record keeping of immunisations in Ireland (there IS centralised record keeping of immunisations in Germany). It is, a disjointed, ramshackle mess, like most things the HSE are involved in.

The fact that the situation hasn't improved in 35 years is nothing to be proud of folks!!!

murphaph

kceire wrote: »

Sounds like you have a gripe with the HSE while it was your GP that lost the details.
Were the HSE even around when you got your vacinations?

The HSE are just the bastard child of the health boards, freely interchangeable in my view. I have stated multiple times now that my gripe is with the system. The GPs work within a system framed by the HSE and before them the health boards.

kceire wrote: »

Also why does the Doctor want to know what vacinations you got as a child? When we had our first child, not once were we asked?

Because my doctor here is a professional. He knows that there's currently a LOT of whooping cough (for example) about and he wants to know if I am a potential risk to my own child.

From asking around it seems it is unlikely that I would have been immunised against whooping cough as a child of the 70's in Ireland. I will now be immunised against it and a record of that immunisation will be held centrally here (as well as in the international format passbook), even though a GP will administer it, so if I ever lose my passbook, my records will be reconstruct-able. But we don't need such things in Ireland of course, ah shur'n it'll be grand like.

Godge

hyperborean wrote: »

Grasping at straws? how many GPs in this country are not in the employ of the HSE? ?

There are no GPs in the employ of the HSE. GPs are self-employed. When they have a medical card patient they get a fee for this.

hyperborean wrote: »

Or back then in the employ of the health service in their area.

The HSE should have kept records of all innoculations, they were the body purchasing the drugs and distributing to the GPs who provided the service under contract, but then I doubt they even have these obvious good practices now considering the poison from the top to the bottom that infects it, a poison going by the name of Unions and personal greed, lack of responsibility and inabilty to accept it by those in it have limited the HSE to the health administration levels of backward 3rd world countrys and yet we have the highest paid Doctors in Europe?

The HSE was purchasing the drugs???? You may be thinking of the swine flu vaccinations or something like that but the GPs stock their own clinics.

There are two problems underpinning the OP's issue:

(1) Poor legislation and regulation by TDs and Ministers who have listened to the greedy GP lobby and not acted in the interests of patients
(2) Poor management and record-keeping by private sector self-employed GPs.

You know the public sector are not the blame for everything in this country.

Godge

murphaph wrote: »

The GPs work within a system framed by the HSE and before them the health boards.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The GPs work within a system framed by TDs and Ministers acting in the best interests of the greedy private sector GP lobby system.

If only we could be like other European countries and have our GPs employed by a body like the HSE. Believe it or not, no matter how incompetent the public servants of the HSE are, we would be much better off if we had scrapped the system the TDs put in to enrich their GP friends.

L1011

murphaph wrote: »

There is STILL no centralised record keeping of immunisations in Ireland

Slight issue here - there is. And has been for years. You're just born before it.

Its mainly used to prevent a GP being repeatedly paid for the same vaccination, but the HSE does take and store records of infant vaccinations given.

Again, it varied by old health board area but there are areas with records back to ~1992 and everywhere since 2004 (or possibly earlier)

Godge

MYOB wrote: »

Slight issue here - there is. And has been for years. You're just born before it.

Its mainly used to prevent a GP being repeatedly paid for the same vaccination, but the HSE does take and store records of infant vaccinations given.

Again, it varied by old health board area but there are areas with records back to ~1992 and everywhere since 2004 (or possibly earlier)

Well, well, well, another PS bashing thread filters out as the lies, half-truths and false accusations are found out.

murphaph

MYOB wrote: »

Slight issue here - there is. And has been for years. You're just born before it.

Its mainly used to prevent a GP being repeatedly paid for the same vaccination, but the HSE does take and store records of infant vaccinations given.

Again, it varied by old health board area but there are areas with records back to ~1992 and everywhere since 2004 (or possibly earlier)

How does a person access these records? Why does the National Immunisation Office not have access to immunisation records? (according to their own website that is)

It's a mess. What about non-infant vaccinations? Where are they recorded? What about vaccinations like yellow fever, where would that show up in the "records"? It's a feckin shambles. The "immunisation pass" issued by the HSE isn't even the WHO approved one, just something they knocked up on MS Word.

Head The Wall

MYOB wrote: »

Slight issue here - there is. And has been for years. You're just born before it.

Its mainly used to prevent a GP being repeatedly paid for the same vaccination, but the HSE does take and store records of infant vaccinations given.

Again, it varied by old health board area but there are areas with records back to ~1992 and everywhere since 2004 (or possibly earlier)

I reckon they should get some performance bonus for keeping records for 9 years, well done lads.

Gumbo

Head The Wall wrote: »

I reckon they should get some performance bonus for keeping records for 9 years, well done lads.

They may do that in London, but in Ireland you wouldnt get a bonus for it.

The primary childhood immunisation programme is carried out in general practice. Your GP will should have a copy of your child’s vaccination records for the vaccinations they have carried out. In addition, the records may be available from your local health office. Click here for a list of contact numbers for your local health office.

There is some variation in practice across the country with regard to the school immunisation programme. In most areas these are carried out by the HSE school immunisation teams and the vaccination record will be held in your local health office. In a small number of areas the school vaccinations are carried out in general practice and records should be available through your GP or local health office. Click here for a list of contact numbers for your local health office.

The National Immunisation Office produces vaccination record booklets that you or your GP/practice nurse can fill in so you can keep all your child’s records together. To order a copy of this booklet for your child’s vaccinations please click here

Recommendations in Ireland

Immunisation Schedule
Pre-immunisation
Post - immunisation
BCG
Diphteria
HIB
Men C
MMR
Polio
Tetanus
Whooping Cough
Pneumococcal Disease
Scheduling frequently asked questions (February 2011)

sean200

murphaph wrote: »

Someone who expects a functioning system for their tax dollar?

There is STILL no centralised record keeping of immunisations in Ireland (there IS centralised record keeping of immunisations in Germany). It is, a disjointed, ramshackle mess, like most things the HSE are involved in.

The fact that the situation hasn't improved in 35 years is nothing to be proud of folks!!!

There is record keeping as you are advised to keep your record
For god sake they give you the book and the GP fill it up every time including the Batch that was used
Are you that incompetent that you are not able to keep a book safe?
You are a typical Irish person. You want somebody else to do everything for you and when things go wrong you also want somebody to blame

tara73

murphaph wrote: »

Someone who expects a functioning system for their tax dollar?

There is STILL no centralised record keeping of immunisations in Ireland (there IS centralised record keeping of immunisations in Germany). It is, a disjointed, ramshackle mess, like most things the HSE are involved in.

The fact that the situation hasn't improved in 35 years is nothing to be proud of folks!!!

so I would be interested where this centralised record keeping, from say extract 1970-1980 is?
It's not sufficient to say there IS the record keeping. link please, some words on the internet are null and void, no matter how often repeated.

and don't say for sure there's none for this time frame because that's what you're asking for in your OP.

L1011

murphaph wrote: »

How does a person access these records? Why does the National Immunisation Office not have access to immunisation records? (according to their own website that is)

It's a mess. What about non-infant vaccinations? Where are they recorded? What about vaccinations like yellow fever, where would that show up in the "records"? It's a feckin shambles. The "immunisation pass" issued by the HSE isn't even the WHO approved one, just something they knocked up on MS Word.

The NIO website tells you how to access them - local offices.

The HSE does not provide vaccines other than infant, and a very small set of adult vaccines for specific groups of people (influenza/pneumoccocal/hepatitis for those in certain age/risk/professional categories) so why would they have records of a commercial transaction between you and a private business?

Can you actually demonstrate to me that the Germans would have records for someone born in the year of your birth?

Head The Wall wrote: »

I reckon they should get some performance bonus for keeping records for 9 years, well done lads.

The HSE didn't exist prior to 2004, so it would have been rather hard for an non-existent organisation to record things.

If you're going to randomly criticise things, it's a good idea to check the facts first.

murphaph

sean200 wrote: »

There is record keeping as you are advised to keep your record
For god sake they give you the book and the GP fill it up every time including the Batch that was used
Are you that incompetent that you are not able to keep a book safe?
You are a typical Irish person. You want somebody else to do everything for you and when things go wrong you also want somebody to blame

Have you ever heard of house fires or floods? I want there not to be a single point of failure in the system. Can you not understand that?

What is the big deal here? I want the booklet and I want all vaccinations recorded centrally so that if the shagging book ever gets destroyed (like in a fire/flood) or just lost (have you NEVER lost anything??) that you can reconstruct the record of your vaccination history for your whole life.

Gumbo

murphaph wrote: »

Have you ever heard of house fires or floods? I want there not to be a single point of failure in the system. Can you not understand that?

What is the big deal here? I want the booklet and I want all vaccinations recorded centrally so that if the shagging book ever gets destroyed (like in a fire/flood) or just lost (have you NEVER lost anything??) that you can reconstruct the record of your vaccination history for your whole life.

Thats all done nowadays. Sorry you were born in a time before it happened, but hey that's life, so was I. My GP has my sons jabs all stored digitally so if this flood arrives then technically speaking, it's all backed up. Unless of course the pc decides it wants to go for a little swim too.

Godge

murphaph wrote: »

Have you ever heard of house fires or floods? I want there not to be a single point of failure in the system. Can you not understand that?

What is the big deal here? I want the booklet and I want all vaccinations recorded centrally so that if the shagging book ever gets destroyed (like in a fire/flood) or just lost (have you NEVER lost anything??) that you can reconstruct the record of your vaccination history for your whole life.

Great, let's set up a quango to go round the country visiting GPs, taking notes, checking them with patients and backing them up just so murphaph can find his missing vaccination records.

tara73

murphaph wrote: »

Have you ever heard of house fires or floods? I want there not to be a single point of failure in the system. Can you not understand that?

omg, this really made me laugh out loud, germany has really transformed you into one..

murphaph wrote: »

What is the big deal here? I want the booklet and I want all vaccinations recorded centrally so that if the shagging book ever gets destroyed (like in a fire/flood) or just lost (have you NEVER lost anything??) that you can reconstruct the record of your vaccination history for your whole life.

jesus, you want, you want, you want, honestly, do you realise how you come across?
the irony and arrogance in it, you say is it not acceptable to lose something and above make your crazy statement: I want not a single failure in the system.:eek:
*shudder* I'm out, that's plain madness.

creedp

Godge wrote: »

Great, let's set up a quango to go round the country visiting GPs, taking notes, checking them with patients and backing them up just so murphaph can find his missing vaccination records.

Another great failing of the Irish public/private system IMO. There is no reason why GPs shouldn't return records of immunisations given to patient where the state pays the GP a fee or it is covered under the HSE GP contract. At some level this information must be provided to enable the HSE measure take up rates etc. However, as no unique health identifier exists there is no mechanism by which this information can be safetly stored and accessed.

However, also bear in mind we have an unique primary care system in this country where the State is responsible for providing public GP services to only approx 40% of the population. The remaining 60% of the population access GP services on a purely private capacity and the State has no involvement in this service. Why would GPs provide information on their private clients to the State?

Roll on universal primary care where all residents will be required to register with a GP and the State for the first time will become responsible for the GP services for all the population. At this point I would think it would be incumbent on the system to set up a comprehensive database containing the health status of the whole population including immunisation records etc. This will be made possible by introducing a unique health identifier for every resident allowing access to their record as required. The only way is up!!

L1011

creedp wrote: »

There is no reason why GPs shouldn't return records of immunisations given to patient where the state pays the GP a fee or it is covered under the HSE GP contract.

They have. For absolutely years.

As they don't get paid otherwise.

PPS is used as the indentifier on modern records, as it is for some other schemes (cervical smears, etc). It is becoming the health indetifier whether or not it was intended to.

Celticfire

tara73 wrote: »

I have this booklet from germany, but I don't think my vaccination record is kept digitally. that would mean somebody must have put all the data from the german population for decades in a computer database in retrospect.
did you say this is the case? please show, can't believe it.

tara73 wrote: »

so I would be interested where this centralised record keeping, from say extract 1970-1980 is?
It's not sufficient to say there IS the record keeping. link please, some words on the internet are null and void, no matter how often repeated.

and don't say for sure there's none for this time frame because that's what you're asking for in your OP.

Any chance of an answer to the two questions?

sean200

murphaph wrote: »

Have you ever heard of house fires or floods? I want there not to be a single point of failure in the system. Can you not understand that?

What is the big deal here? I want the booklet and I want all vaccinations recorded centrally so that if the shagging book ever gets destroyed (like in a fire/flood) or just lost (have you NEVER lost anything??) that you can reconstruct the record of your vaccination history for your whole life.

put it in a tin box
You sound like one of those people who book a holiday and then discover that their passport is out of date 2 days before they fly
People need to take responsibility for their data and documents and your mother should have done this and taught you how to do it so u are not wasting public sector time and money with you calls

creedp

MYOB wrote: »

They have. For absolutely years.

As they don't get paid otherwise.

PPS is used as the indentifier on modern records, as it is for some other schemes (cervical smears, etc). It is becoming the health indetifier whether or not it was intended to.

That makes sense. Does that mean that the HSE have the names/details of all children immunised by GPs? If so there would appear to be no reason why a person couldn't request their immunisation record from the HSE or is the problem that the HSE doesn't have the necessary information systems to facilitate storage and retrieval of records?

L1011

creedp wrote: »

That makes sense. Does that mean that the HSE have the names/details of all children immunised by GPs? If so there would appear to be no reason why a person couldn't request their immunisation record from the HSE or is the problem that the HSE doesn't have the necessary information systems to facilitate storage and retrieval of records?

They do.

People can - and the details of how to do so are on the very website that the OP insisted there was no info on. Its in their FAQs

This entire thread is based on absolute misinformation. The OP is looking for records from approx 30 years ago and is making wild assumptions that

a: because they don't have them, they don't have any
b: That because the Germans have records for his kids, they'd have them for 30 years ago

creedp

MYOB wrote: »

They do.

People can - and the details of how to do so are on the very website that the OP insisted there was no info on. Its in their FAQs

This entire thread is based on absolute misinformation. The OP is looking for records from approx 30 years ago and is making wild assumptions that

a: because they don't have them, they don't have any
b: That because the Germans have records for his kids, they'd have them for 30 years ago

Good to hear! Morale of the story ..don't listen to everything your hear/read

femur61

kceire wrote: »

The booklet is and should be saved by the patient. I have one for my son which shows dates, doctor and serial numbers of all injections and vaccinations.

.

My youngest is 12 and I certainly never got one.

Fries-With-That

This is an interesting debate, I see that some posters are castigating the OP for his assertion that the HSE should have a record of all his vaccinations.

Their argument revolves around the fact that the HSE wasn't in existence when he received his vaccinations.

This is a spurious argument and contributes nothing to the debate because the HSE is now the organisation responsible for overseeing the provision of medical services in this country, if the records exist regardless of who gave the vaccinations he should be able to access his records.

My youngest children are 10 and unlike some of the posters in this thread we have not received the booklet they refer to, that details all vaccinations (including batch and serial numbers) received.

However in saying that I would be confident that my GP would be able to provide me with this information if I required it, I could not say the same for any that were administered directly by the HSE.

My lack of confidence in the HSE records keeping process comes from direct experience of a request for medical records for services provided for my 10 yr old children.

I received the records back to a certain point,(useless hand written single line notations covering 1 hour + meetings) when I queried the lack of information on records available and the reason for records being missing.
I was informed that there was no system of record taking in place at that time for the missing records and there was an informal one in place covering the ones we received.

I was also given the wonderful news that a new computerised system was being put in place, but not all members of the team were trained up on it yet so until all training was completed they would be using a mixture of both systems.

This is only in the last 6-7 years.

It is because of experiences like this I understand the OPs frustration with what he sees as a lack of proper national records office for medical information relating to services provided to us as children by the state.

juan.kerr

We should admire German efficiency in this matter.