Access to Medical Records (Subject Access Requests)

Access to your own medical records

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, patients have a legal right to apply for access to health information held about them. This includes information held by your GP on computer and in paper form.

Third party access to medical records

Health records are confidential so you can only access someone else’s records if you are authorised to do so. To access someone else’s health records, you must be acting on their behalf with their written consent, or have legal authority to make decisions on their behalf (power of attorney), or have another legal basis for access.

Access to medical records of a deceased person

The Access to Health Records Act 1990 gives the personal representative of the deceased, or those who may have a claim arising out of the death of the individual, a right to access the medical record of the deceased. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives every living person, or their authorised representative, the right to apply for access to their medical records irrespective of when they were compiled. The exception to this is the records of deceased patients, which are still governed by the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

Making a Request

We can provide access to medical records via online access or through an emailed or printed report.

To request access please read the information and complete the following Subject Access Request application form (2023) and return this to the practice either in person or by emailing the completed form to sar.admin@nhs.net

Following receipt, we will contact you once your request is prepared or if we require further information.