The practice is registered and complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information.
This practice complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came in to force on the 25th May 2018.
Please click on the link below to view how GDPR applies to patients and a link to our Data Subject Access Request form.
Access to medical records – Patient leaflet 2020 (PDF)
Data subject access request (SAR) form for patient (PDF)
The rules surrounding access to patient records have changed and we need to make you aware that you have a number of options to choose from when a SAR (Subject Access Request) is made. Whichever option you choose, we will be providing the data directly to you and not to the third party who made the request; your insurer/solicitor will be informed of this. We are only able to include personal data for which we are the data controller. Other organisations may have shared information to your record but they remain the data controller for that information. You would have to approach them to request access to their data.
Your medical record at the practice is held in two formats. Predominantly your medical records are held electronically, but we also hold historic data for you in paper format. For a full copy of your record to be provided we would need to photocopy/scan all of your historic data.
Deciding how you would like to proceed with this SAR
Option 1
You can request your full medical record. All of the data held in electronic format, including hospital letters and results will be included along with anything on your historic medical record. You can then decide which information to share with a third party – not all of your medical record will be relevant to your case.
Option 2
You can contact your insurance company/solicitor and ask that they request a medical report directly from us rather than copies of your records. A medical report will be completed by your GP and will only focus on the information in your record that is relevant to your case – not the whole of your medical record.
Option 3
You can advise us if there are specific parts of your records that you would like us to provide copies of. For example, this could be certain time scales or any records relating to specific conditions. Please advise which parts you require.
Option 4
You can request a telephone call from your GP to discuss your request in further detail. If you would prefer this option, please let us have the most convenient telephone number to call you on and we will call you back to arrange a suitable time to speak to your GP.
Paper copies
If you choose to paper copies of your medical record we will let you know once we have them ready for you and you will need to collect them, in person, from the surgery. We will need to see a form of ID such as a Passport or Driving Licence before we release them to you.
Future SARs
There are specific rules that cover repeated subject access requests that we need to make you aware of.
- As you will already have been provided with a copy of your records, any repeated SARs will generally only cover additional information added to your record since the date of the last request.
Any request for a further copy of full or partial records will be subject to an administration charge of up to £50.
Date published: 10th October 2014
Date last updated: 14th July 2022