Danish Regions seek records access for ambulance crews

Danish Regions wants the law changed so ambulance professionals can review patients’ records after treating them and learn from their work, DR reports.

Christoffer Buster Reinhardt, who chairs the health committee, plans to send a letter to the health minister this week proposing the change. He said the law should recognise the skills and responsibilities of ambulance crews.

Only doctors, nurses, dentists and midwives currently have access to patient records. That means ambulance professionals often do not find out what happened to seriously ill patients they were among the first to help.

Søren Holmgaard Knudsen, who has worked as an ambulance professional for more than 40 years, said it would help to know whether the care his team provided was right. Reviewing records after a call could help crews improve at linking symptoms to possible diagnoses, he said.

He recalled treating a man who had been struck by a hard plastic cable. The man had pain on his left side, but the crew could not determine whether he had a broken thigh bone or a hip injury. They gave him pain relief and strapped him to a stretcher. Knudsen said they still do not know what injury the man had.

Allan Bach, chief physician for ambulances and emergency medical cars in Central Denmark Region, said feedback on crews’ assessments and treatment would help improve their skills.

Bach said patient confidentiality would remain a high priority, and ambulance professionals should face the same strict restrictions as doctors and nurses. Any misuse of records would be detected and have consequences, he said.