You can ask to see your health record at any time during a consultation or by phoning us to arrange a time to see it.

If you don't understand any part of your record, please just ask the health professional who is holding the record and they will explain it to you.

To receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you, you must make a formal application called a subject access request.

Subject Access Requests

Under UK GDPR (UK General Data Protection Regulation), you have a right to apply for a copy of the personal health information held about you.

Your health record contains information about your mental and physical health recorded by a healthcare professional as part of your care.

It's a good idea to state the dates of the records you require when you apply.

Some types of personal data are exempt from the right of subject access and so cannot be obtained by making a subject access request.

How to make a request

Please download and complete this form: Application for Access to Health Records

Please send the completed form via email to gwh.subjectaccess.requests@nhs.net or by post to:

Health Records Department
Great Western Hospital
Marlborough Road
Swindon
SN3 6BB

Fees

GDPR allows most requests to be made free of charge.

However, a reasonable fee can be charged for further copies of the same information or when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive.

The fee will be based on the administrative cost of providing the information.

Timescales

You will receive a response no later than one calendar month after your application is received, your identify is checked, and any relevant fee is paid.

Other people's health records

You can apply for records on behalf of another individual in exercise of their rights by a subject access request.

As a general rule, parental responsibility will give you the right to apply for access to a child's health record.

If you want to see the health records of someone who has died, you must apply in writing under the Access to Health Records Act (1990).

The personal representative (executor or administrator of the estate) of the deceased, or any person who may have a claim arising out of the patient's death, may apply for access.

Sharing confidential information with a third party

The Data Protection Act 2018 and the ethical codes of conduct of all health care professionals require that medical data be treated with great respect for confidentiality.

Trust staff are therefore not permitted to share any medical details with a third party without your consent.

Please complete a consent form if you would like us to share your medical data with a relative, carer or friend and either email: gwh.healthrecordssupervisors@nhs.net.

Further information

Please see the Information Commissioner's Office website or contact:

The Health Records Department
Tel: 01793 604699

For further information on the way the Trust uses and shares your information, please see Privacy Notice for Patients.