Access to Medical records - Police & other requestors

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.

In order for records to be released the health professional must be able to ensure that they refer to the correct patient and is able to read the medical notes.  If the records are not legible the health professional cannot authorise the release of the records.  If the records were to be released to yourselves and they were found to reference another patient or release data outside the scope of the application, this would be a breach of patient confidentiality.

Records are usually illegible due to poor quality print or multiple pages of text submitted per A4 sheet which are too small to read.

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.

PCSE are happy to help provide you with this information. Please email informationservices@nhs.net with your request.

You may direct your request to PCSE and we will process your request or refer you to the correct channel if necessary. To begin submitting a request, please click here.

Please note however, PCSE do not have access to the patient’s digital record and can only provide copies of a Health Record which we hold in storage.

There may be instances where parts of a person’s medical record may be held with Hospital, Community or Mental Health trusts, as well as any previous primary care practice(s). PCSE cannot provide access to these records, and you may wish to make a separate application to the relevant Health Organisation

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.

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.

If you or the person whose records you are requesting 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.