This was a response from an Australian Doctor reader , Dr Colin Fernando , to news that patients would receive immediate access to their pathology and imaging results in My Health Record , probably starting this year .

The Adelaide GP had read claims by Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler that the current seven-day delay on patient access was a “ barrier to good clinical practice ” that causes “ untold frustration ”.

Another reader , Dr Liliana Potocki , was also alarmed . She recalled a patient who thought they had a “ massive lung mass ” after reviewing their own X-ray results . It turned out to be their heart . “ What would have occurred if the patient had received a true report of a new lung mass ?” the Brisbane GP said .

“ How do they get through a night of anxiety without support , counselling and direction apart from doctors in ED ?” Both the RACGP and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia ( RCPA ) support patients accessing their results , but both say the seven-day delay is an important safety measure .

Dr Rob Hosking , chair of the RACGP Expert Committee — Practice Technology and Management , said “ mitigating strategies ” were required when the automatic delay is ditched .

“ We will potentially get anxious patients ringing reception staff saying , ‘ I need to speak to the doctor . I need an appointment straight away . My sodium level is 133mmol / L .’

“ I would consider that in the normal range , but the results will have the little asterisk next to it , highlighted for the patient to view as abnormal .

“ So it might be that we have to ring patients quicker , and our reception staff are going to have to know how to deal with patients who have seen a result that has made them anxious .”

The flip side is patients wrongly interpreting results as not worth following up .

“ An example is a man or a woman in their 50s who comes to me tired ,” Dr Hosking said .

“ With a patient in their 50s who comes in tired , we investigate with a whole bunch of blood tests , and they show they have iron deficiency and are mildly anaemic .

“ They might view that in My Health Record and decide they just need some iron and not come back .

“ But to me , that would be alarming in that it could be a sign of bowel cancer .”

The Department of Health and Aged Care said the new rules would have

Dr Rob Hosking .

exceptions when there was “ a clear need to delay a report to protect the wellbeing of a patient ”.

But it has not detailed these scenarios or who will make these decisions .

The AMA , RACGP and the RCPA are part of a clinical reference group for

thrashing out the details .

Biopsies or blood tests involved in cancer diagnosis should be excluded , along with genetic tests , RCPA vice-president Associate Professor Daniel Owens said .

“ I worry about a patient looking at their My Health Record on a Friday night and spending the weekend either needfully or needlessly concerned about a result without the context of talking it through with their doctor ,” he said .

‘ Reception staff will have to know how to deal with anxious patients .’

Any “ cancer-defining test ” had emotional implications , while the clinical implications would vary widely , he added , as well as anatomical pathology because of its complexity .

Dr Hosking expected the Federal Government would agree to delay

histopathology , cytopathology and genetic tests , while deciding that “ everything else must go ”.

He hoped that patients would be pointed to the government-supported website Pathology Tests Explained when accessing their results .

“ We are also under the impression that , on My Health Record , each test will be headed with a banner saying , ‘ This should be discussed with your doctor ,’” he said . “ But we know patients won ’ t do it . “ Ultimately , I think GPs would like to have control of saying , ‘ This can be viewed now ,’ as well as maybe putting notes on the result that reassure people or say , ‘ This is not particularly bad , but come and see me for a review .’”

Doctors are also worried about the workload and who would be held responsible for any disasters .

“ We may have bad outcomes for patients , and that might result in investigation of doctors and their processes through coroner cases or medicolegal cases ,” said Dr Hosking .

“ I like an analogy I saw from a pathologist who said : ‘ The seven-day rule is not perfect , but it is like seatbelts — 99 % of the time , you do not need them , but it is about the 1 % that you do .’

“ So you take that bit of inconvenience , and you wear a seatbelt all the time .”

Health officials say rules for delaying certain results will be developed .

FROM PAGE 1 retention of rural doctors that pollies and bureaucrats kinda ignore .

“ We ’ re not numbers ; we ’ re people !”

Dr Wong said a “ sense of adventure ” drew younger doctors to rural medicine , but the lack of social and romantic connections could stop them staying long-term .

“ You can tolerate these things for a few months or one or two years , but if you do not have the social aspect , people are going to leave .

“ I used to live in London — there were more art galleries in London than there are people in this town .”

While dating apps were an option , Dr Wong said people had to meet in person eventually .

“ If not , you just have an online penpal , and that is worse because you become more reclusive .”

He said one option was working

Dr Ernest Wong with

Ellie the dog .

fly-in fly-out , spending more time in Adelaide or other cities , and perhaps meeting somebody who would move permanently to Wudinna with him .

He understood that the medical board was unlikely to relax its guidelines .

“ The sun will rise from the west before that happens .”