Access to your health records

Information about your personal treatment and care will normally be something you will discuss with the healthcare professionals.

For every inpatient and outpatient attendance at the hospital, data is stored on computer systems and added to medical records.

This allows clinicians and other medical staff to make informed decisions about each individual’s condition and treatment in respect to their healthcare history.

It is vital to maintain the accuracy of this information as a record of care if it is to be useful in the future. It is also essential that these records, both written and electronic, are kept secure and access restricted to specific staff members.

The Caldicott review and Data Protection Legislation (Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations) enforce strict legal guidelines to the storage, maintenance and access to patient information.

How we manage your information

To find out more on how the Trust manages your information, please see our pages on;

• How we use your information
• Privacy notices

Requesting your health records

This would include information relating to health records, employment and training records – anything which is limited to you as a person whether as a patient, employee or partner of any kind.

You also have the right to obtain from the Trust confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you is being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data and the following information if required:

• the purposes and legal basis of the processing;
• the categories of personal data concerned;
• the recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organisations;
• where possible, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored, or, if not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;
• the existence of the right to request from the Trust rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data concerning the data subject or to object to such processing;
• the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO);
• where the personal data are not collected from the data subject, any available information as to their source;
• the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling giving meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject
• Where personal data are transferred to a third country or to an international organisation, the data subject shall have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards relating to the transfer

Once your request has been received and your identity verified, your request will usually be completed within one calendar month.  However, if your records are extensive we may take longer to process your request but will inform you from the outset where possible, and in any case within 30 days.

Contact the team

To submit a formal request for information, please contact:

Raising a concern

If you wish to raise concerns about the contents of your health records, or how your information is being used please contact the Trust’s Patient Experience Team.

If you are still not content with the outcome of your complaint after speaking to our experience team, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

If you disagree with the Information Commissioner’s decision and feel we have failed to disclose information without good reason you may apply to a court for disclosure.