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Access to Health Records
You have additional rights of access to your own health records. Under the DPA you are entitled to see all information relating to your physical or mental health which has been recorded by or on behalf of a health professional in connection with your care. This applies not just to computerised data and structured files but to unstructured data as well. The right of access covers both NHS and private medical records, and information of any age, however long ago it was recorded.
The health professionals whose records can be seen are doctors, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, clinical psychologists, child psychotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, chiropodists, dieticians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiographers, speech therapists, music and art therapists, orthopaedists, prostheticists, medical laboratory technicians and scientists who head health service departments.
Your access rights are more limited if:
Charges
If you just want to inspect your health records, and not have copies, access must be given without charge, so long as any information has been added to your record in the last 40 days. This should allow free inspection by anyone who has recently been seen by a health professional.
If you ask for copies, you can be charged up to a maximum of £10 for all copies supplied to you where the information is held on computer and a maximum of £50 for manual records or a mixture of manual and computer records, including copies of non-paper records such as X-rays. You cannot be charged more than this however many copies are involved.
Other People’s Health Records
You will not normally be able to see confidential information about another person, such as another member of your family, which has been recorded in your own health record unless that person consents or it is reasonable in the circumstances to disclose this to you. The same applies to information identifying an individual who has supplied information about you, other than health professionals.
A health professional does not need another health professional's permission to show you information recorded by that person. So your GP cannot withhold a letter from a hospital consultant on the grounds that he or she needs the consultant's permission for disclosure.
Parents
Parents normally require their child’s consent before they can see the child's health records. If the child is too young to give an informed consent, the parent may be given access except where the child gave information in the expectation that it would not be revealed to the parent or expressly asked for it not be disclosed. The same rule applies to a situation where the data subject is an adult incapable of managing his or her own affairs and the person seeking access is someone who has been appointed by a court to manage those affairs.
Relatives of Someone who has Died
There is no right to the deceased’s records. The only exception is if the death may have been caused by negligence. In this case, a provision in the Access to Health Records Act 1990 allows someone who might be entitled to compensation - usually a dependant - to get records relating to the cause of death. All other provisions of this Act have been repealed.
Serious Harm
In addition to the other exemptions in the DPA, information likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health or condition of the applicant or someone else is exempt. This decision can be taken only after consulting a health professional, normally the doctor treating the patient for the condition concerned. If the health professional’s opinion was given more than six months ago, a new opinion must be obtained.
This provision might allow information to be withheld from, for example, someone with a mental illness whose condition could be seriously aggravated by seeing the record. It is not, however, a blanket exemption for psychiatric or any other class of patients. Studies have shown that most psychiatric patients benefit from seeing their medical records provided they have been written in the knowledge that they might be seen and someone is available to help explain them.
This exemption refers to serious harm - not to harm or distress. It should not permit doctors to withhold upsetting news from patients who want the truth, particularly if they could be helped to come to terms with it by support and counselling.
Medical Reports for Employers or Insurers
If your doctor writes a report on your health for an insurance company or an employer, you have the right to see it before it is sent, under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. Only reports by doctors who are or have been involved in your medical care are covered. A report by an independent doctor, who has never treated you and acts solely for the insurer or employer, is not subject to this Act, and will only be accessible under the DPA.
An employer or insurer cannot contact your doctor unless they have your written consent and have informed you of your rights under the DPA. You must be invited to say whether you want to see the report before it is sent. If you say yes, the doctor should wait 21 days before sending it, to allow you to arrange to see it. Get in touch with your doctor straight away and ask to be contacted as soon as the report is ready.
No charge can be made if you inspect the report only; if you want a copy you can be charged a reasonable fee. If information has been withheld under an exemption - for example, for serious harm, you are entitled to be told.
If you see the report and are unhappy with it - for example, if you feel it involves an unacceptable breach of your privacy or misrepresents the position - you have the right to stop it being sent. But if you do, the employer or insurer may not be willing to offer you the job or insurance policy, so do not take this step lightly.
The doctor is required to keep a copy of the report for six months after sending it and to let you see it if you ask. This may be valuable if you are unexpectedly refused insurance or employment.
If you believe that a doctor, employer or insurance company has breached the DPA, you can apply to a court for an order requiring compliance. If a doctor has sent a report without your consent, this may be a breach of medical confidentiality. You may have grounds for a complaint to the General Medical Council.
The health professionals whose records can be seen are doctors, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, clinical psychologists, child psychotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, chiropodists, dieticians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiographers, speech therapists, music and art therapists, orthopaedists, prostheticists, medical laboratory technicians and scientists who head health service departments.
Your access rights are more limited if:
- Information about your health is held by someone who does not fall within the DPA’s definition of a health professional, such as records held by various kinds of psychotherapists or alternative practitioners.
- Information is held by a health professional who is not and never has been responsible for your care, such as a DSS doctor responsible for deciding whether you are entitled to disability benefit.
Charges
If you just want to inspect your health records, and not have copies, access must be given without charge, so long as any information has been added to your record in the last 40 days. This should allow free inspection by anyone who has recently been seen by a health professional.
If you ask for copies, you can be charged up to a maximum of £10 for all copies supplied to you where the information is held on computer and a maximum of £50 for manual records or a mixture of manual and computer records, including copies of non-paper records such as X-rays. You cannot be charged more than this however many copies are involved.
Other People’s Health Records
You will not normally be able to see confidential information about another person, such as another member of your family, which has been recorded in your own health record unless that person consents or it is reasonable in the circumstances to disclose this to you. The same applies to information identifying an individual who has supplied information about you, other than health professionals.
A health professional does not need another health professional's permission to show you information recorded by that person. So your GP cannot withhold a letter from a hospital consultant on the grounds that he or she needs the consultant's permission for disclosure.
Parents
Parents normally require their child’s consent before they can see the child's health records. If the child is too young to give an informed consent, the parent may be given access except where the child gave information in the expectation that it would not be revealed to the parent or expressly asked for it not be disclosed. The same rule applies to a situation where the data subject is an adult incapable of managing his or her own affairs and the person seeking access is someone who has been appointed by a court to manage those affairs.
Relatives of Someone who has Died
There is no right to the deceased’s records. The only exception is if the death may have been caused by negligence. In this case, a provision in the Access to Health Records Act 1990 allows someone who might be entitled to compensation - usually a dependant - to get records relating to the cause of death. All other provisions of this Act have been repealed.
Serious Harm
In addition to the other exemptions in the DPA, information likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health or condition of the applicant or someone else is exempt. This decision can be taken only after consulting a health professional, normally the doctor treating the patient for the condition concerned. If the health professional’s opinion was given more than six months ago, a new opinion must be obtained.
This provision might allow information to be withheld from, for example, someone with a mental illness whose condition could be seriously aggravated by seeing the record. It is not, however, a blanket exemption for psychiatric or any other class of patients. Studies have shown that most psychiatric patients benefit from seeing their medical records provided they have been written in the knowledge that they might be seen and someone is available to help explain them.
This exemption refers to serious harm - not to harm or distress. It should not permit doctors to withhold upsetting news from patients who want the truth, particularly if they could be helped to come to terms with it by support and counselling.
Medical Reports for Employers or Insurers
If your doctor writes a report on your health for an insurance company or an employer, you have the right to see it before it is sent, under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. Only reports by doctors who are or have been involved in your medical care are covered. A report by an independent doctor, who has never treated you and acts solely for the insurer or employer, is not subject to this Act, and will only be accessible under the DPA.
An employer or insurer cannot contact your doctor unless they have your written consent and have informed you of your rights under the DPA. You must be invited to say whether you want to see the report before it is sent. If you say yes, the doctor should wait 21 days before sending it, to allow you to arrange to see it. Get in touch with your doctor straight away and ask to be contacted as soon as the report is ready.
No charge can be made if you inspect the report only; if you want a copy you can be charged a reasonable fee. If information has been withheld under an exemption - for example, for serious harm, you are entitled to be told.
If you see the report and are unhappy with it - for example, if you feel it involves an unacceptable breach of your privacy or misrepresents the position - you have the right to stop it being sent. But if you do, the employer or insurer may not be willing to offer you the job or insurance policy, so do not take this step lightly.
The doctor is required to keep a copy of the report for six months after sending it and to let you see it if you ask. This may be valuable if you are unexpectedly refused insurance or employment.
If you believe that a doctor, employer or insurance company has breached the DPA, you can apply to a court for an order requiring compliance. If a doctor has sent a report without your consent, this may be a breach of medical confidentiality. You may have grounds for a complaint to the General Medical Council.
