Do I have the right to know my mother's medical arrangements?

I don't understand why people don't understand the principles involved and the potential for harm in some situations.

I think thread-reading is important if only to stop annoying repetition and misunderstandings.

Yes, I saw that. It is maddening, yet whenever the topic of thread reading comes up (as it frequently does as an AIBU) it is assumed by some that it is an unreasonable request.

Doodledog I admire your patience and I’m also glad your mother is alright.

I share your frustration at people not reading the thread, or at the very least, the OP before they post.
This morning I took the trouble to quote a poem in full ( on the growing old disgracefully thread) only to come back to the thread and find someone else had also quoted it about 15 minutes later ?

Well, Doodledog, maybe people will read the thread now, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Glad your mum’s okay.

I know I said that I was leaving the conversation, but as it is clear that people are still not reading the thread, I will try once again to spell out my position:

* I am not angry.

* I am not feeling inconvenienced by any of this, and do not want to stop being NOK.

* The fact that I have POA is not, in this case, relevant to the situation, as my mother is in full possession of her faculties. I mentioned it for completeness, and pointed out in the OP that it was not really relevant, but really wish I hadn't, as despite my repeating this over and over it keeps getting dragged back into the discussion.

* The receptionist had been unable to contact my mother for a matter of minutes when she called me, so there was no reason to assume that she had met with disaster.

* My concern (not anger, not a gripe, not a complaint, but a concern) was/is for my mother's right to confidentiality, to which I think she is entitled despite being 86. It is for her to decide whether or not to disclose her medical details to her daughters, as well as when to do this. She had intended to tell my sister and I after she had the results of her tests, so that we would not worry.

* I realise that 'no harm was done' to my mother, but the point is that it could have been if that policy were used to contact people who had good reason to keep private the fact that they were consulting a doctor.

* The message was left on a landline answerphone which was picked up by my husband, and could have been accidentally played in front of other people - it was in no way a private message.

* If I sound frustrated it is less with the situation than with the fact that I am repeating myself over and over, but the same points and questions keep coming back.

I hope that clears up my position and answers (again) the questions that people have continued to ask .

PS. She has had the tests and got the all clear, so all's well that ends well.

I have PoA for DH and the local surgery quite properly had to scan it into their records before allowing me to deal with his medical issues with them. The same happened with dealing with his Parkinson’s consultant. It does make life much safer for him if I deal with it all especially since he probably wouldn’t remember what had been said,

I'm sorry I dont get your anger .if you're mothere had fallen downstairs and been unable to answer her own phone would you prefer they just waited until she was had been there for days before they thought to contact someone about not being able to contact her?
That exact thing happened to my mother ,she was lying in her back garden with a badly broken leg ,neighbours on holiday and no one who could see her .When her GP surgery called and got no answer they called me.I went down and got her the ambulance she needed.She spent 7 weeks in hospital .Just be grateful someone cared enough to let you know she was unavailable.They didn't give any information as far as I can see from your OP.

Forgot to say the ~EPA is only for finance not welfare so have no rights to know about health etc.

Have you got a Lasting Power of Attorney Welfare (LPA- welfare) or do you only have an LPA for finance? If you do have the welfare one then look in Section 5 has your mother authorised it to start immediately or only when she is not compos mentis.

You may have the EPA the enduring power of attorney (new one no longer issued) which will not yet have been registered because you mother has capacity.

All public services have a duty of care and if an elderly person cannot be contacted it is right to check out with the second telephone number on the form what the positions is. And as others have said giving away as little personal information as is suitable for the enquiry.

When I receive hospital phone calls ( different hospitals) they all start with the same generic 0800 number, which I have saved on my phone.
I know right away then if it is a medical call and not a scam.

Automated phone calls always ask for a Yes or No answer to confirm my name. If you say No , you can't proceed.

If you’re expecting a call from the hospital/GP, best to pick the phone up.

Not commonplace sparkling, patient confidentiality is very important in GP surgeries and any off the staff breaching this are disciplined. It can be very annoying for family members who wish to discuss their relative (our patient) but we have to politely tell them to obtain their consent.

Hospitals and GP surgeries withhold their number because they don't want you to call them back, they want you to go through the switchboard!

My hospital never leave messages, even their calls come up "caller withheld" they don't seem to get the fact that if they do this the patient may not pick up the phone and the message will not be received ever, quite difficult

I am inclined to agree this is a breach of patient confidentiality. In this instance, a letter addressed to the patient the right approach. Unfortunately, administrative staff in hospitals and doctors’ surgeries constantly make decisions inappropriate to their role. The lack of respect for a patient because of an arbitrary age on a medical record commonplace.

Doodledog has left the discussion, as so many people appear not to have read the thread!
I must say, I agree.

I work in a GP surgery. If your mother has not given express consent that you can be contacted about any aspect of her care, what you describe is quite simply a breach of confidentiality.

Who gave the hospital your telephone number & how did they know who you were?

Confidential Information is information provided by a hospital, GP surgery, by patients and members of staff about themselves and/or their health care. This information has been given with the expectation it will be kept secret, secure and not shared with staff or anyone else not involved with the patient's care.

Any patient information is confidential e.g:
Name
date of birth
address/ telephone number
Appointment date and or time
Reason for or details of treatment.

Confidential information cannot be used or shared with anyone who is not involved with the care of the patient.

So giving away appointment details to someone not involved in the care of the patient (and even then has to have patient's consent unless a specific exclusion) is a breach that should be reported. The hospital's PALS department should take it seriously, but if you don't trust them to pass it on, complain to the Chief Executive, you will be able to find their name by googling the trust.

They had no right to contact you, it would have been better for them to contact your mother's surgery (involved in her care, so okay) and ask them to try and contact her.

There are two POAs, one for finance and one for health. When we did ours we were told the health one was not really necessary because in the event things would be decided mostly on the advice of doctors etc and not on the advice of relatives with POA. Not sure if relevant here but it does not seem to have been mentioned.

But MamaB247 this wasn't a situation where the patient was surprisingly absent.
It was just a reminder, in an unexpected phone call which she wasn't available to answer right away.
The receptionist was far too hasty, in this case.

I wonder if they immediately phone NOK, if the call isn't answered by a patient of 56 or 36.

You could see it another way. My elderly neighbour was due at hospital for an appointment she had never missed any other but had had a fall at home. They couldn't get in touch with her when they tried to ring to see why she hadn't showed. So had rang her daughter who went round to check and found her on the floor where she had been all day. Her daughter lived a 1 hour drive away and due to the lady independance didn't normally go through to check on her because the old lady liked to go out on buses and would visit her family herself. Had the receptionist not contacted her daughter she could have been laid there for days or worse. She hasn't identified any appointments, so I don't see an issue. Expecially with someone if that age.

I worked for the NHS for over 19 years and the person that phoned you definitely broke confidentiality but telling you your mum had an appt. she should have never done that and you have the right to be annoyed

Doodledog I confess that I haven’t read the whole thread but I think you’re quite right.
I agree with Evie’s post on the first page, if a message is left on a landline or even someone’s mobile there is no knowing who will access it and confidentiality would definitely be breached, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

I’ve lost count of the number of times the local community health centre has left messages on my landline, about people’s appointments and even their test results, as a result of a staff member dialling a wrong number, despite the fact they must have listened to our answerphone message clearly telling them who they were about to speak to.

It’s inexcusable and shouldn’t happen.