Accessing Your Health Records, Explained Without the Jargon

It is a legal right rather than a favour, and it is free, which surprises most people who ask.

Key takeaways

• Right of access: free, under UK data protection law
• Timescale: normally within one month of the request
• Most useful single change: Ask the organisation that holds the record — the GP practice for GP notes, the trust for hospital notes.
• Commonest mistake: Paying a fee, since one is not normally chargeable.
• See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.

The short answer

Your right to see what is written about you, and to get a copy of it.

Where it fits

This is part of Using Health Services. What follows is what the guidance says, and then what that looks like in practice.

The numbers, in one place

What that means in practice

What that looks like in practice:

• Ask the organisation that holds the record — the GP practice for GP notes, the trust for hospital notes
• Say which period or which department you want, which speeds things up
• Check the record for factual errors and ask for them to be corrected
• Use the NHS App for GP records before making a formal request

What gets people into trouble

Where people most often come unstuck:

• Paying a fee, since one is not normally chargeable
• Expecting a same-day copy of a full hospital record
• Assuming a correction request means the original is deleted, since it is annotated instead

Where to go next

• New to Accessing Your Health Records? Start Here
• Your Questions About Accessing Your Health Records, Answered
• Accessing Your Health Records — the reference entry
• Getting Help From a Pharmacy: What the Evidence Actually Says
• The Evidence on Registering With a GP, Without the Hype

When to speak to a doctor

If a request is refused or ignored past a month, complain to the organisation first and then to the Information Commissioner's Office. If reading your record raises something clinically worrying, take it to your GP rather than acting alone.

Where this comes from

• NHS — How to access your health records
• Information Commissioner's Office — Right of access

How this page was put together

Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.

Medical disclaimer

This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.