Accessing medical records and patient details

Overview

PCSE process GP medical record access requests for living individuals who are not currently registered with a GP practice in England.

For access to health records of a patient who is currently registered with a GP Practice, you must contact the GP Practice they are registered with. 

If you are looking to make a request for the GP medical records of a deceased individual you will need to contact their last registered practice. Any records held by PCSE would be requested by the last practice and reviewed for disclosure alongside any digital records they hold when they process a request for access to a deceased patient records. 

PCSE will only administer requests for deceased individuals whose last registered GP Practice is now closed.

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) stores medical records on behalf of NHS England. These medical records comprise of paper records and computer print-outs from GP practices in England for patients who are deceased or not currently registered with a GP practice. 

We can only administer requests for access to GP practice records – we do not store electronic records, x –rays, hospital records, community services (e.g. health visitors, district nursing, school nurses) or records relating to private treatments and clinics or consulting rooms. 

For access to any other types of records you should contact the clinician or organisation who created them.

For more information on accessing medical records and patient registration details, choose the appropriate option below.