THE SHORT ANSWER
You have a legal right to a copy of your medical records. Write to the GP practice, hospital or clinic and say clearly that you are making a subject access request. Those words engage your rights under data protection law. Requests are usually free, and providers should normally respond within one month.
Whether you complain, claim, or simply want answers, your medical records are usually the starting point. Nobody can tell you what happened without them, including us.
How to make a subject access request
Write to the GP practice, hospital or clinic that treated you, and say clearly that you are making a subject access request.
Those words matter, because they engage your rights under data protection law and tell the provider which process applies. A request that does not use them may be treated as general correspondence and sit in the wrong queue.
Many trusts and practices have their own form, using it is usually quicker, but you do not have to - a letter or email is enough.
Each provider holds its own records. If your care involved a GP practice and a hospital, or two different trusts, you will need to ask each of them separately.
What to ask for
Be specific about the dates and the departments involved, and ask for the complete record rather than a summary.
A summary is the part someone else has decided is relevant, which is not the same thing.
Ask for:
test results and pathology reports
scans and imaging, including the images themselves and the radiologist's report
referral letters and clinic letters
nursing notes and observation charts
operation notes and anaesthetic records where relevant
any incident report or investigation relating to what happened
Include your full name, date of birth, current address, any previous name, and your NHS number if you have it, so the provider can identify you without coming back to ask.
How long it takes and what it costs
Requests are usually free, and providers should normally respond within one month. That period can be extended where a request is complex or where there is a lot of material, and the provider should tell you if it is being extended.
In practice, a month is the minimum rather than the expectation, particularly for long hospital records. If you are working towards a deadline, request the records as early as you can.
Keep a dated copy of your request. If the month passes without a response, you have something to follow up with, and you can raise it with the Information Commissioner's Office if it is not resolved.
Getting the records of someone who has died
The subject access route does not apply after death. Instead, the person's personal representative can apply under separate legislation, the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
A personal representative is the executor named in the will, or the administrator of the estate where there is no will. Someone who may have a claim arising from the death can also apply.
Is the NHS App enough?
The NHS App may show part of your GP record, such as recent entries, test results and prescriptions. It rarely shows all of it, and it does not show hospital records at all.
So the app is a useful place to start, but a formal request is still worth making if you want the complete picture.
One last thing. Records can be difficult to read, both because of the handwriting and abbreviations and because of what they contain. You may prefer to have someone with you the first time you go through them.
Related guides - Read here
Already have your records and not sure what you are looking at?
You do not need to interpret them yourself. Send us what you have, or tell us what happened, and we will explain what would need to be looked at.
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Requests are usually free. A provider may charge for a further copy of the same records, or where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, but a first request for your own records should not normally cost anything.
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Providers should normally respond within one month. That period can be extended where the request is complex or there is a large volume of material, and the provider should tell you if it is being extended.
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No. You have the right to request your own records yourself, and many people do. A solicitor can request them on your behalf as part of a claim, which is usually what happens once a case is taken on.