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Medical reports

You have the right to see any medical report on you that a doctor has written for an insurance company or an employer. This is given by the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988.

This includes any doctor who is, or has been, responsible for your medical care — your general practitioner, hospital doctor, consultant or any other doctor who has treated or advised you. It does not include an independent doctor acting exclusively for the insurance company or employer.

How do I apply?

You don’t have to apply. Before an insurer or employer contacts a doctor for a report on you, they must get your written consent and explain your rights under the Act.

The insurer or employer must ask you if you want to see the report before the doctor sends it. If you do, they must tell the doctor this when they ask for the report. You then have 21 days to arrange to see it. If you have not contacted the doctor by this time, the report can be sent off.

Even if you do not tell the insurer or employer in advance, you can still see the report — as long as you ask the doctor for it before it is sent off.

Once you have seen the report, the doctor must get your written consent before sending it.

The doctor must also keep a copy of any report for six months (after sending it off), and you have a right to see it during this period.

How much does it cost?

There is no charge for inspecting the report. You are entitled to a copy, but the doctor can charge a reasonable fee for providing it.

What information can’t I see?

You can be refused access to any part of a medical report if it would:

• in the doctor’s opinion, cause serious harm to your or someone else’s physical or mental health
• show the doctor’s intentions towards you
• reveal information about someone else or the identity of another person, unless that person has given consent.

The doctor must tell you if, and why, they have withheld any information from you.

How can I correct errors?

You can ask the doctor to correct any part of the report that you believe is wrong or misleading. If the doctor refuses, you are entitled to prepare a written statement of your views, which must be attached to the report when it is sent.

You can refuse to allow the report to be sent. However, this may result in the insurance cover or job offer being refused.

How can I complain?

If you feel that the doctor, insurer or employer has breached the Act, you can go to court for an order to make them comply with it.

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