Patient requests for Medical Records

Consent and request for Medical Records must be submitted in writing, preferably using the form below:

Medical Records request

The following is a quick-reference guide to the considerations to take into account.

Patients have a right to get copies of their medical records except: 

Where it has been judged that supplying you with this information is likely to cause serious harm to your physical or mental health or condition.

Where providing you with access would disclose information to or provided by a third person, this exemption does not apply where that third person is a health professional involved in your care. 

Once your request has been submitted and your identity verified, you should receive a response within one month.  This time limit can be extended where the request is complex.  Please be aware that the practice is obliged to go through your record first to remove any reference to other parties which might breach their confidentiality and also take out any information that might be harmful to you.  The GPs' work load is so great these reports cannot be checked in their busy day to day surgery and have to be read, checked & redacted after hours. 

When making your request, it would be helpful if you could provide details of the time periods and parts of your health record you require, this will help save our time and resources, and will reduce the cost of your request.  We would advise using the above form so we obtain all the information required.

You are entitled to 1 free copy of your Medical Records, if you pass these onto your lawyer and it is necessary for you to obtain another copy there will be a charge based on the amount of work required.  Not all medical information is held on computer depending on your age.   Paper notes are still held and have to be photocopied if requested which, as you can imagine, takes additional time to prepare. 

If you are making or considering using an authorised representative, for a legal claim for compensation related to an injury, you need to be aware that in doing so they may gain access to all health records concerning you.  They will also need any hospital records made in connection with the incident and others that they think may be relevant that happened years previous which you may think are not relevant.   This is to enable the lawyer to understand the incident and your injury and see if you have had a previous injury that may have a connection to your claim.  If this is a concern, and you have very sensitive information in your records you should inform your representative of what you wish them to specifically request when they are applying for access and check what you are signing. 

The records are provided in hard copy. 

Your health records

A health record is created and held by a health professional.  Your health records typically contain important information about your physical or mental welfare.  All information received about you is held in confidence, including after your death.  Only healthcare staff involved in supporting or providing your care can access your record.  Your health record, which is held on computer or paper, covers information from almost all consultations and contacts you have had with health professionals in the practice and information sent to the surgery about you from others, such as hospital letters, opticians, mental health, dentists etc. 

The information they contain usually includes: 

• Summary of each consultation.
• Copies of all letters received from hospital and health professionals.
• Results of all investigations.
• List of all diagnoses and problems.
• Medications and allergies.
• Vaccinations and immunisations.
• Copies of letters received from third parties eg insurance companies, vehicle & driving licensing etc.

In the majority of situations, third parties such as the police, insurance companies or solicitors cannot be given access to your health records unless you give written consent to do so or if required by law and directed by a judge or magistrate.  However, situations can arise where information may be disclosed to the police without patient consent.  This may be when police are investigating or prosecuting a serious crime or where disclosure of this information could prevent serious injury to the patient or others.