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Does your AME get all your medical records?

I have very few records since age 12. One serious illness at age 76, and occasional soft tissue injury. My GP has the records on computer. I have copies of all tests. I just have to give a written request and I get them.
When I paid for private testing as the NHS was going to take months, both the GP and me got copies.
I pass copies to my AME before my annual example. (Including my annual optometrist result.)

Last Edited by Maoraigh at 22 May 18:30
Maoraigh
EGPE, United Kingdom

Being generally healthy, I am not afraid of disclosing my medical records, so I am seriously considering switching to our national AMC (Institute of Aviation Medicine) as my primary care provider. It doubles as a polyclinic and is part of the Czech armed forces, so they provide excellent medical care and have the kind of approach I like: “OK, you are ill now, but our job is to get you back in service ASAP”.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

MedEwok wrote:

there are no central records of any kind

Looked into this right now. We have a central online place for all our medical stuff. I knew something was being made, but haven’t paid much attention to it. The entire medical record is there (except for my district where the journal is not yet online). I can see all vaccines from birth, prescription drugs everything, and I can see who else has been looking at it. By default it is open for medical personnel, but I can filter out whatever stuff I don’t want other to see. I can even see the information gathered from my corona app, hour by hour As to the exact legalities, I really have no clue…

Ultranomad wrote:

“OK, you are ill now, but our job is to get you back in service ASAP”

I like that. We have a similar medical center used by the air force. It can also be used by private pilots. The problem is they only have office in Oslo, not very practical for me. They used to have offices all over the country, but since the end of the cold war, they have closed down one after the other. My initial medical in 1992 was at such a place.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

However, there is no central record. If say you break a leg, go to A&E, they fix you, the record for that work will be in a file in the hospital. Usually it is a paper file, and you are not permitted to see it except under strict supervision

This is not quite correct. A record of the A&E attendance will be sent to your GP (assuming you give your correct details) but it is likely to be a relatively brief summary. The more detailed summary will be held by the local hospital trust. If you move within the UK the GP notes will follow you. However the detailed notes will stay within the original trust. If you break your leg again and your new local hospital want to find out what sort of hip replacement you had the first time round, they will have to call the original trust.

The issue with restrictions on seeing your medical record isn’t about fear of people finding ‘NFN’ or ‘FLK’ in their notes (normal for Norfolk, funny looking kid). These pejorative notes are so much part of lore that they must have existed, but I have never seen them. These days 90% of medical notes are written for the benefit of lawyers rather than the patients or other doctors so such abbreviations are right out.

The real gotcha is 3rd party information. If somebody else’s Chlamydia test result has been misfiled and gets sent to you, then the doctor may get a 6 figure fine. Dad might have the right to see his child’s test results, but if they happen to live with Mum in the women’s refuge and the address hasn’t been redacted from his copy of the results, then… 6 figure fine. Perhaps when you were a baby your Mum suffered severe postnatal depression with psychosis and there were concerns for your safety. That’s her medical history not yours, and whilst it’s appropriate for it to be in your notes it’s not appropriate for it to be disclosed to you without her consent.

So releasing notes to patients is more of a minefield than it looks, though I agree that in most cases these issues do not arise, and there would sometimes be much to be gained.

To borrow from The Departed – deal with the AMEs just like you deal with your mushrooms: “feed ’em shit and keep them in the dark”.

No, but seriously, I’ve seen a few perfect candidates and excellent pilot prospects tie themselves up with volunteering information they should not have done. Once the stuff is out there, it’s very hard to put it right and go through the hoops to get a Special Issuance here in the US. Most give up. People that could have been great contributors and participants in our dying community. And it’s for silly stuff that really has no bearing on flight safety. Obviously, there’s a delicate line here – there are things that are a flight safety risk. But is a past DUI 10+ years ago really that? Or the use of SSRI’s in the past? Or that you went and talked to a psychologist after your mother died? I don’t think so.

This is a key difference between the FAA system and the EASA system.

Under FAA, your AME is working for you and is not obliged to disclose all he knows to the FAA. Only what he is required to disclose.

Under EASA, at least in the UK, there is no possibility of an off the record conversation (this has been confirmed to me by two AMEs). The AME is an agent of the CAA, with no obligation to you. Of course he might be friendly and use some discretion, but that is a favour.

There are FAA AMEs who offer consultancy services, for Special Issuance etc cases. This would never be possible in Europe.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

There are FAA AMEs who offer consultancy services, for Special Issuance etc cases. This would never be possible in Europe.

I wonder why that’s not possible. How would the CAA stop me from doing an AME course, then stop working for them and offer an aeromedical consultancy service?

I seriously consider doing the course (it’s just a 60 hr course if you are already a specialist) and then offering such a service. Would need to find out if that’s really possible though.

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

Only what he is required to disclose.

How would that make any difference anywhere in any case. What an AME is required to disclose is obviously aviation medical related.

In Europe it is the pilot’s responsibility to seek an AME if he think something is wrong. It’s the AME’s responsibility to figure out the status and report to the CAA. At least that’s how I think it is. His job is not to ground you or help you get in shape.

That’s why I like ultranomads approach, and you would get much of the same if your AME also was your GP.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Nothing stops someone working as a consultant AME but you will not be able to have a relationship with your CAA. They will terminate you.

In the US you can.

Lots of reasons eg the FAA publishes a list of self grounding conditions. In Europe, the whole part MED is a self grounding list

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

In Europe, the whole part MED is a self grounding list

Where have you read/heard that?

The “self-grounding list” in part-MED is specifically in MED.A.020 “Decrease in medical fitness”, which does not make any reference to the rest of part-MED.

On the other hand, the FARs say that to “remain eligible” for a medical certificate, you must “meet the requirements of this subpart”.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden
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