medical records?

this may be VERY off-the-mark and sound really stupid to all those in-the-know, but the thought just occured to me today that I might need to get a copy or (or the originals of?) my medical records sent to the UK.  How's a GP supposed to know what to do if they don't know what my history is?

no allergies to medications, hospitalizations, or anything like that - but still - is this something worth looking into or just leave them where they are for the time being?

speaking of, where are they and how in the hell do i go about getting them?

(i'm still on my parents insurance so i'm really clueless about this all!)

Have your GP write a letter to your new doctor with dates of immunizations, hospitalizations, medications, etc.  That's it.  No need for you to get your entire record copied unless you have some serious medical issues.  Your GP or the nurse will ask you for your history when you register with the surgery. 

Your US records are with your US doctor.  You can request a copy, usually for a fee.

I collected my records from all of my doctors and from my hospital stays before I came.  You need to make the request in writing, and if there are a lot of pages, there's usually a copying fee involved.  It was interesting, to say the least, to read my records and see what my doctors had to say.

I just asked my US primary care physician and she had her office copy all my records for me. No charge. Nothing. Easy peasy!

My doctor copied my records and I brought them over here with me.  I have some pre-existing problems that will have to be followed up on here and medications I take.   

i forgot to do this when i first moved here.  i rang my gyn and asked him to send over a copy of my latest pap.  i asked my dr to send over the last two years of medical notes.  all did it free of charge.

cool   are the records automaticlaly forwarded when you change physicians (like from a pediatrician to a normal doctor?) or would I have to call both places?

The most "serious" thing I have is allergies, but still - i'm not a doctor so if I ever were to come down with something I'd like my doctor to have my previous medical history - it may tell them something important. No harm in being informed I don't think.

I have seasonal allergies and no other complaints.  The doctors here prescribe allergy meds without a blink and were never interested in the medical history I brought from the states.  They were interested in my son's immunisation records, but other than that, they ignored his records too.  So it was a waste of time and money for me to get those records.

That being said, if you have persistent conditions outside of the ordinary (seasonal allergies are pretty ordinary), then it is probably worth while bringing them.

No - Your records are never automatically forwarded (well, I think insurance companies can get a hold of them if they need to).  You will need to call your Dr and ask what their process is.  My Ob/GYN had a form I had to fill out, sign and return.  They copied them and sent them to my house.  I brought them with me and actually brought them to my first GP exam here in the UK.  While most of the stuff was superflous, the GP in the UK did appreciate some of the test results that were included.  Then again, she was looking for something very specific.  She didn't take the copies or anything like that, more just scanned through  them and made some notes based on the copies.  

Another tip, if you do get your medical records, have them sent to YOU and don't turn them over to anyone!  Certainly provide copies, but some of my UK records were lost either by the GP or the hospital.  I've not had very good experiences with health care here....

Because I moved around a bit in the states I actually had a couple hospitals and clinics to get my records from.  I always called their office, and they made the copies for me. I just had to sign a release and then they were mine.  I acutally forgot one clinic when I moved over here but made a call and they said they would accept an email with my SS number as a signature for release and they mailed them over all free! But it was a complete waste of time.  Not one doctor here wanted a copy of my records. I got some copies and some originals. But make sure if you want to pass the on, that you make a copy for the doctors here and you keep the originals.

  My vet here on the other hand wanted a copy of all my cats records! 

I had quite serious allergies as a kid, went through 7 years of shots and everything (was immune to all meds in testing or out - kinda a last resort) - but they're not even seasonal anymore so not a huge issue (yay!).

I sort of just want them as a just-in-case, I figure if they're free and easy to get it can't hurt - seems like they are so I'll probably call up and request them. 

Before moving, I went around to our GP, my OB/GYN, endocrinologist, my daughter's ped and her orthopedic surgeon, and got copies of all records and X-rays.  The ped was the only one who charged us for copying.  That said, no one over here has shown any interest in our records, except for my midwife, but it makes me feel better to have copies of all of them.

Another tip, if you do get your medical records, have them sent to YOU and don't turn them over to anyone!  Certainly provide copies, but some of my UK records were lost either by the GP or the hospital.  I've not had very good experiences with health care here....

Absolutely!  I gave my midwife a copy of my OB records, and I think that she's lost them, as she was supposed to pass them on the consultant.  I am so glad that it was only a copy that I gave to her and not my original set.