Access to Medical records - members of the public

PCSE will store a request for access to medical records for a period of 3 years from completion of the request. 

If the request is subject to an appeal, we'll retain the request for a period of 6 years, from closure of the appeal.

In line with NHS England's guidance:

• Medical records of deceased patients are stored for 10 years
• Medical records of unregistered patients, where the reason for not being registered is unknown, are stored for 100 years

Find out more about retention schedules in the Records Management Code of Practice - NHS Transformation Directorate (england.nhs.uk).

If you were registered at a GP Practice in England, but are no longer registered, you will need to submit a Subject Access Request to PCSE. 

Visit the Accessing medical records and patient details page and scroll to the section entitled 'All other requestors, including members of the public'. The process can be found under 'Medical records for unregistered patients'. 

If there has been a practice merger since the patient has died, please contact the practice that it has been merged with.

This may happen if the NHSE Health Professional, in the process of disclosing the records, finds that the records are either incomplete or contain illegible notes.

This is because PCSE do not hold the notes in question and they are still retained with the last practice. You would need to direct the request to the last registered practice for the missing/illegible notes.

As the GDPR/DPA only applies to living individuals, the concept of a data controller does not apply to records for the deceased.

Practices remain legally responsible for copies of records retained on local systems. Where a practice retains a copy (be it paper or electronic) of a deceased patient’s record, they are legally obliged to consider it under AHRA. They may choose to direct applicants to PCSE, but must also be prepared to respond directly if an applicant insists on accessing data retained by the practice.

See also:

What information can PCSE provide?

GPs are legally obliged to follow the Access to Health Records Act 1990, as the GP is the record holder as per s3(2) of the Act. If a practice refused to process the request, the requestor should complain to the GP practice and/or raise the issue with NHS England, please see NHS England » Complaining to NHS England.

PCSE are happy to help provide you with this information. Please email informationservices@nhs.net with your request, attaching two identity documents (one proof of current home address and one form of photo personal ID as detailed here).

When an application is received by the Access to Health Records team, the steps listed in this guide,  detail the process that the application will follow. Applicants who require an update at any stage of the application should contact our Customer Support Centre on 0333 014 2884.

See also:

What information can PCSE provide?

If there has been a practice merger since the patient has died, please contact the practice that it has been merged with.

To appeal a decision on disclosure please email pcse.accessrequests@nhs.net

Please ensure to include a statement as to why you wish to appeal the decision.

If your appeal is accepted, it will be passed to the NHS England Redaction team to review the initial decision.

A record may not always contain the patient's full medical history. PCSE can only provide you with the information we hold.

If there are missing years, please contact the GP Practice where the patient was registered during the period you are missing the information.

PCSE will consult an appropriate health professional who will review the records and decide which records may be released.

There are certain circumstances in which the health professional may deny access to the complete records or to certain parts of the record:

The Health Professional has deemed notes not suitable for disclosure, as they are not within the scope of the request.

Where an individual other than the patient (and appropriate health professionals) could be identified from the information (unless the individual consents).

The deceased person stated that they did not wish for any part of their records to be released after death, or the information contained within the records was such that the deceased person expected them to remain confidential.

Access cannot be given to records made prior to November 1991.

If you wish to speak to someone regarding this, please contact: pcse.accessrequests@nhs.net, or phone 0333 014 2884.

See also:

What information can PCSE provide?

The ethical obligation to respect a patient’s confidentiality extends beyond them passing away. The Access to Health Records Act 1990 (AHRA) provides a small amount of people with the right to access this information:

• a personal representative (the executor or administrator of the deceased person's estate)
• someone who has a claim resulting from the death (this could be a relative or another person)

Please note: Only information directly relevant to a claim will be disclosed.

All applicants will need to provide some additional documents to be able to access the records.

If you or the person whose records you are requesting on behalf of are unregistered, PCSE will process the access application within 28 days.

In certain circumstances, this may not be possible (for example, where the record cannot be traced, or is held by a third party storage provider outside of the control of PCSE.)

If you are requesting records for a deceased person, GP practices are required to respond to Access to Health Records Act (AHRA) requests, however PCSE will process the Access to Health Records request if the last registered GP Practice has now closed. 

In these circumstances, if the request for a medical record is under the Access to Health Records Act 1990, PCSE will process the access application within 40 days. In certain circumstances, this may not be possible (for example, where the record cannot be traced, or is held by a third party storage provider outside of the control of PCSE.)

PCSE will update the applicant on likely timescales.

On behalf of NHS England, the NHS GP Practice medical records for patients should include information about:

• medication
• allergies
• vaccinations
• previous illnesses
• test results
• hospital discharge summaries
• appointment letters
• referral letters

Sometimes these records don’t always contain a full medical history.

See also:

What information can PCSE provide?