Access to health records

Your doctor, and the team of health professionals caring for you keep records about your health and any treatment and care you receive from the NHS. The records help to make sure that you receive the best possible care.

Your medical records may be written down (manual records), or held on a computer.

The records may include:

  • Basic details about you, such as address and next of kin
  • Contacts we have had with you, such as clinic visits
  • Notes and reports about your health, treatment and care
  • Details and records about your treatment and care
  • Results of investigations, such as X-rays and laboratory tests
  • Relevant information from other health professionals
  • Relatives or people who care for you and know you well

Some of this information will be held centrally but where we use it for statistical purposes, we take strict measures to make sure that individual patients cannot be identified. We may also pass anonymous statistical information to organisations with a legitimate interest, including universities, community safety units and research institutions.

If we cannot use anonymous information, we may use personally identifiable information for essential NHS purposes such as research and auditing. We will only use your information for research purposes with your consent.

How to see your health record

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 allows you to find out what information is held about you. This is known as ‘right of subject access’. It applies to your health records.

If you want to see your records, you will need to apply via the link below and the AHR team will then check the validity of the request.

SAR Portal (opens in new tab)

In certain circumstances your right to see some details in your health records may be limited in your own interest or for other reasons, such as the protection of others.

Charges for accessing your medical records

There are two pieces of legislation that govern access to health records and the charges that are applicable:

  • The General Data Protection Regulation 2018 covers the records of living individuals and includes information on the rights of staff and patients to access personal information including medical records
  • The Access to Health Records Act 1990 governs the disclosure of medical records of deceased patients

What are the fees for accessing living/deceased patient records?

There is no charge to receive your records via the Portal.

To submit a Subject access request please use the SAR Portal.

SAR Portal (opens in new tab)