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Health records

There are some differences between your rights to see your health records and your general rights of access to personal information, which are explained in the first section of this guide. This section tells you about the differences. Otherwise, your rights are as stated in the first section of the guide.

Another section of the guide covers access to medical reports about you written for an insurance company or an employer.

A health record is any record, whether on computer or paper, which consists of information about your physical or mental health or condition, and is made by or on behalf of a health professional involved with your care. So it includes your case notes, X-rays and MRI scans, for example.

Health professionals include:

• hospital doctors
• occupational therapists
• general practitioners
• orthoptists
• dentists
• physiotherapists
• opticians
• clinical psychologists
• pharmacists
• child psychotherapists
• nurses
• speech therapists and art or music therapists employed by a healthservice body
• midwives and health visitors
• osteopaths
• chiropodists
• chiropractors
• dieticians
• scientists employed as head of department by a health service body.

What does it cost?

If your records are paper or a mixture of paper and computer records, and you just want to look at them, there is no charge if they have been made or added to during the past 40 days. If they were made more than 40 days ago and haven’t been added to in this time, it costs up to £10 to see them because they won’t be so easily accessible. If you want a copy of any part of them, it can cost up to £50. The cost of copying depends on the size of the records and whether they include documents such as x-rays.

If your records are held entirely on computer, it costs up to £10 to see or have a copy of them, whenever they were made or amended.

What information can’t I see?

Some information on your record may be withheld from you. This includes information that:

• could identify someone else — you may only be given access to all or part of your record if that person consents (although the identity of a health professional cannot be withheld)
• could cause serious harm to your or another person’s physical or mental health
• is about human fertilisation and embryology
• is about adoption records or reports
• was supplied by a court or a reporter to a children’s panel
• the data controller has a legal obligation not to disclose.

How can I complain?

If you are dissatisfied with the way your application has been dealt with, you should first discuss it with the health professional concerned. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can use the NHS complaints procedure and after that, if necessary, complain further to the Information Commissioner — see the entry under the ‘Advice and assistance’ page.

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