Access to Health Records

You may have concerns about your treatment and want to read your medical records to see just what happened, or whether a note was made of your of your symptoms, or what the working diagnosis was.

It used to be difficult to get access to them, but the rule is now that a patient who wants to see the records is allowed to do so without having to give reasons. You apply to your Practice Manager (for GP records) or to the NHS Trust (or hospital). You will be asked to fill in a form. If you want just to read them, you will usually be allowed to do that without charge. If you ask for copies of your records, the hospital trust or the GP is allowed to make a charge, which is capped at a maximum of £50.

People are sometimes told they need to get a solicitor to ask for the records. This is wrong. You can ask for them yourself. In some very rare cases, where it is felt that for a patient to read the records would cause harm, the records can be withheld.

If someone has died, their personal representative (that is someone dealing with the estate) can get access to the records.

If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Clear Answers to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury. Telephone us now on 0800 783 9019 or complete one of our online compensation claim forms.