Important update! We have recently reviewed and updated our Forum Rules and FAQs. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the latest version.
How long does it usually take to get a medical record?
11 replies
670 views

27 posts
My local GP requires me to fill in a form, attach some ID and then drop it off. Then i will get either a printed medical record or have it sent to my email address, all free of charge. I chose to have it sent to my email address as it would be quicker and save paper, the records i asked for were for the last 10 years.
The problem is that i dropped this form off back in October 2019, it's been 3 months and i still havent received it. I rang in a few times last year and was told that they are short of staff and i will have it after Christmas. I feel as though i'm never going to receive it the fact it's taking longer than 3 months.
I am sure i have read somewhere that it is required to be done by law within 40 days but cannot find where i read that. Is it normal to wait this long and am i concerned for nothing?
The problem is that i dropped this form off back in October 2019, it's been 3 months and i still havent received it. I rang in a few times last year and was told that they are short of staff and i will have it after Christmas. I feel as though i'm never going to receive it the fact it's taking longer than 3 months.
I am sure i have read somewhere that it is required to be done by law within 40 days but cannot find where i read that. Is it normal to wait this long and am i concerned for nothing?
0
Quick links
Essential Money | Who & Where are you? | Work & Benefits | Household and travel | Shopping & Freebies | About MSE | The MoneySavers Arms | Covid-19 & Coronavirus Support
Replies
https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/time-limits-for-responding-to-data-protection-rights-requests/
However I've never seen the complex = 3 months proviso before, and I've read about requesting medical records a LOT. I think they'd be hard pressed to prove your request is complex, as presumably your records are all in one place (or two at most, over set on computer and one set on paper) under your name!
Yes it had to be a SAR, if you look on this page and download the form -
https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/publication-scheme/how-to-make-a-subject-access-request
The section "How to make a request" allows you to download the form. This form is almost identical to the one i filled in.
Thanks for pointing this out as i will also fill that form on the website too.
Friedrich Nietzsche
If you've filled in one already you should not have to fill in another one - you could simply politely remind them of their legal obligation (perhaps in writing, so they cannot ignore the nudge) and maybe even give them a deadline for a response otherwise you'll have to complain to the ICO
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-environmental-information-regulations/complaints/
It depends how assertive you're feeling really
For years? what is their reason for not giving it to you? surely it's required by law for them to send it to you.
I was actually thinking of filling in the website form because it gets sent to a different department (hospitals etc) and not GP, may do that in future.
I will ring them at the end of this month and by then it's 3.5 months! if they are still making excuses then i will send a letter in, what sort of deadline is good, maybe 30 days? I may speak to practice manager as well.
If you're happy to give them 30 days then that's more than reasonable, they couldn't possibly object. Good idea to speak to the practice manager
Ultimately you have no right to your records, and no right to know why. The loophole is Section 5 paragraph 1 of the Access to Health Records Act 1990:
"Access shall not be given...to any part of a health record..which, in the opinion of the holder of the record, would...cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of any individual"
Section 8 provides for legal action, but if the NHS present the judge with a plausible sounding excuse for withholding, you and your solicitor aren't allowed to know what it is, so how would you go about challenging it?
My records contain a 27page MDT report on my bowel tumour. I have been given pages 1 & 27, which are just header and tail, but the 25 pages of clinical data have been withheld. Their excuse for this is that those pages are all blank.
This is what happens if you complain to the Information Commisioner:
I pointed out that they have the power to raid the premises of data controllers: "Oh, that's only when the law has been broken".
You don't say why you want your records, but if it's anything to help with a complaint, I can guarantee you won't be given anything useful.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
We requested my mum’s notes after a misdiagnosis and some really poor care. They sent everything, including the stuff that made them look really bad.
If they aren’t sending yours maybe they are being truthful as to why?
And maybe pigs fly. There's a whole community of us who know from personal experience of the corruption in the NHS, and it might surprise you, but we talk to each other, and see the same things happening over and over again. We're also very familiar with being gaslighted by the NHS and their apologists.
I counted something like a hundred assorted blank and unused forms and documents among all my records, why is the MDT report the only one withheld on those grounds? Why would being blank be grounds for withholding a document? Where does the Access to Health Records say that?
You must think I'm the village idiot.
Friedrich Nietzsche