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Medical records - England

HSSS

Expert
I know we are entitled to our NHS medical records. Can someone point out to me where it says this? Is it printed paper copies, online access? If it specifies online access is there anything specifies how much and what?

The nhs app for example has sections for consultations, health problems and documents. The blurb implies that your surgery MAY choose to share these? Do they have the right to refuse these? Does your surgery share these?

Mine has said the do not “allow” these categories without giving any reason. They have offered my records but it will take 30 days and I assume this is a printout and not sure how comprehensive that will be. I’m sure others seem to have it. They used to use patient access website that gave more and clearer info but have switched to sole using this app. I assume it is more cost effective.
 


https://www.patients-association.org.uk/seeing-your-medical-records
 
Hi. There was an NHS Instruction to surgeries about 3 years ago that they MUST allow online access unless there was a good reason not to. My surgery Practice Manager says that should only exclude those perhaps with mental health, suicidal condition etc. I've had access now for several years. You need to complain to your surgery Practice Manager and also let your PPG (Patient Participation Group) know. If the surgery still blocks access you could complain to your CCG but there are great changes going on with local NHS structure (PCNs. PLNs etc) so you may not get anywhere. Good luck. BTW see this link amongst others:

https://www.themdu.com/guidance-and-advice/guides/online-access-to-records
 
I think the problem is they have allowed some access but not full. It’s interesting to see their contracts say it should be full access. They have offered records (to what degree?) with 30 days notice. Why not just give the app full access?
 
And now they are pretending they gave me my full record last year after initially claiming it was 6 yrs ago and threatening to charge me for them. There isn’t a practice manager as its a group and they have passed it my informal complaint to an unknown person for review. Group policy is full access won’t be given. I’m on the PPG and will raise it there too.
 
My surgery flat refused, I twice emailed asking and twice at the gestapo office, as I was only asking because I thought it would be fun to read through them, I gave up.
 
Fenn said:
My surgery flat refused, I twice emailed asking and twice at the gestapo office, as I was only asking because I thought it would be fun to read through them, I gave up.
Click to expand...
Interesting I’m not alone. It’s been passed up the chain but I’m not holding my breath…really can’t see why they are so against it. No charge for the slow version has been agreed.
 
Fenn said:
My surgery flat refused, I twice emailed asking and twice at the gestapo office, as I was only asking because I thought it would be fun to read through them, I gave up.
Click to expand...
I have had similar issues - even quoted the NHS directive to them but no success. I was told it depended on what system the surgery signed up to and mine obviously didn’t sign up for much as all I can do is order repeat prescriptions on line. Ironically I can get my diabetes related blood results via diabetes myway Somerset!
 
I had to pay £100 "admin fee" for mine approx. 8 years ago, and the admin was so pathetic they missed some pages off.
 
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...y-and-health-records/access-to-health-records

This link is to the BMA's website. The BMA is the union for doctors in the UK.

You'll find a downloadable pdf called "Access to Health Records". This is advice to doctors, but very useful for patients, about how GPs should make records available to patients following the current requirements, including through Subject Access Requests. Here's a link to advice on SARs.

https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/subject-access-requests/

It can be very helpful, if you're having trouble getting to see your own records, to quote to the practice what their own union tells them they should be doing. Incidentally, your medical records do not belong to the practice you're registered at. They are legally the property of the Secretary of State for Health.

Some GPs - not all - used to charge for letting you see your own records. They cannot do this anymore, except in very rare circumstances - such as where it's clear the request is "manifestly unfounded". This wouldn't apply to anyone's initial request.

Best of luck
 
My surgery system is Systemonline. It has, I believe, three levels of access. The first two give access to raise prescriptions, view your (coded) health record and see test results. The highest level allows you to view letters etc sent by hospitals to the surgery. Few surgeries allow this top level of access including mine.
 
We used to have patient access. But this has been discontinued in favour of the nhs app which I assume is cheaper even if not as good. I used to have better, but not full access, to my records on the old system. Never had even coded records let alone letters etc.
 
System on line here

I get appointments
Prescription requests
And coded tests and vaccination record.

A free

We have btw gone through a few apps it seems
Latest incarnation is it's actually on the surgery website.
Which is how I currently access it

Also offers an E-consult which I found useful, after having explained house bound , in agony with no meds .. nearest app was 26 days away, I could just keep trying to beat the world at calling by 8am (which if course you can't actually do ) or I could 'pop' on in if wasn't happy with the service.

I now bypass all that nonsense, e consult gets me what I request OR a call back same day from a practice doctor.

For the NHS my local area hospitals I have a NHS app called my patient knows best.

https://www.hey.nhs.uk/pkb/

NB I'm not from hull.
Link was first to show on Google . Used for info purposes only


Which gives me appointments letters test results....pretty good all round

But it is health authority dependent I think

My local area lets me access all, and I can't remember requesting it.

But the hospital I attend currently is the other side of London, and THAT doesn't appear on itm
(Guess it's a 'request access ' thing that I haven't applied for yet )
 
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My new doctor sent me a list of about 30 different companies I can use to access my medical records, and I can see them via the NHS app too. Again, not top level letters but all of the test results and repeat prescriptions etc:

  • Conditions
  • Allergies
  • Medication
  • Consultations [Locked]
  • Test Results
  • Documents [Locked]
  • Immunisations

I was a bit surprised how many to be honest, I suspect they use an API and then which I don’t like they try and sell value added extras like dna tests… I may actually post to ask people's experiences as I don't want to sign up to all of them, and that's off topic here

previous surgery used Airmid which I liked as I had graphs. None of the apps I have found so far do this

past history is not that clear but interestingly it had some childhood records like I had a squint when I was a baby which I never knew. I have only just transferred doctor too so not sure if there are still transfers occuring

thinking it might be paper records hence a lot less detailed back then
 

I believe that individual surgeries can decide how much access they allow, both on a per population and individual patient basis.

Like so many things, the devil is absolutely in the detail, and in tis case in the interpretation.
 
The first 5 years of my life are missing, and a great deal happened in that time. Whether it was the practice to attach those early years to the mother's records (babies and young children were considered expendable in those days) or the person copying the records fouled up, I'll probably never know.
 
My
Well, I had something from 1978 then a few other operations, or so then a gap until 2002 and then a huge gap until 2012 at which point there seems to be pretty much all test results

whether I missed lots of tests or nothing happened, hard to say but I suspect as it was paperwork and I guess transferred manually between surgeries that it just hasn’t moved over

probably if I really wanted to I could ask for all the paperwork, but not so worried about that

I have to admit, I actually quite like econsult as I can write everything down and make sure nothing is missed. But then I generally don’t enjoy talking to people anyway
 

Outlier, have you asked your surgery for the information?

My electronic records are really a summary for the early part of my life, then they become more fulsome.

Your surgery will still have retained whatever paper records you have. I concluded that some of mine were not digitized as they are probably illegible.

As a member of our surgery PPG I have been in some unusual places in the building. There are several rooms of wall to wall, floor to ceiling paper records, stored alphabetically. Interesting potential fire risk, but that's another ball game.
 
Sensible to have asked the surgery, but at the time I was occupied with a lot of other stuff and just never got round to it. I was still smarting at the £100 charge too. But yes: I should have followed it up. I'd just had enough of them at that point.
 
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