Access to Medical Records being refused by GP

RomfordNavy

Having a problem obtaining my late Mum's Medical Records from her GP who are insisting that I must apply to the Probate Registry for a grant of Letters of Administration before they will release them.  This they claim is due to "the process of following medico-legal guidelines in accessing medical records after a patient's death", more like they know what they have done wrong and are just trying to stop me from finding out!

As her assets were nowhere near the inheritance tax limit I have no intention of appling for Probate.  Being her only Son, Administrator of her Estate and Sole Heir I can see no valid reason why I should not be allowed access to her medical records.  I already have her Hospital and London Ambulance Service records.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this or who to escalate the complaint to?

Stubod

Normally when somebody passes their records are no longer held by the Practice, they will go to a central resource, and you can access them as per:-

 https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/nhs-services-and-treatments/can-i-access-the-medical-records-health-records-of-someone-who-has-died/

RomfordNavy

Stubod said:

Normally when somebody passes their records are no longer held by the Practice, they will go to a central resource, and you can access them as per:-

 https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/nhs-services-and-treatments/can-i-access-the-medical-records-health-records-of-someone-who-has-died/

No longer the case, from Primary Care Support England:

From 1 August 2022, if you are looking to make an Access to Health Records request for an individual who has passed away, you must submit your request directly to the last known GP Practice.

Primary Care Support England can only provide a copy of GP health records under extenuating circumstances, including where the last registered GP Practice is now closed or the individual was not registered at time of death. If PCSE receive a request outside of these circumstances, we will not be able to process the request and this will be returned to you. It must comply with the Access to Health Records Act 1990 (AHRA) and can take up to 40 days to process.

elsien

This guidance does specifically reference probate documentation. Perhaps that is what the practice is following.

https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/access-to-the-health-and-care-records-of-deceased-people/

Do you have any other documentation they should accept instead such as letters of administration or proof you are an executor of any will? 

JJWSJS8700

RomfordNavy said:

Stubod said:

Normally when somebody passes their records are no longer held by the Practice, they will go to a central resource, and you can access them as per:-

 https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/nhs-services-and-treatments/can-i-access-the-medical-records-health-records-of-someone-who-has-died/

No longer the case, from Primary Care Support England:

From 1 August 2022, if you are looking to make an Access to Health Records request for an individual who has passed away, you must submit your request directly to the last known GP Practice.

Primary Care Support England can only provide a copy of GP health records under extenuating circumstances, including where the last registered GP Practice is now closed or the individual was not registered at time of death. If PCSE receive a request outside of these circumstances, we will not be able to process the request and this will be returned to you. It must comply with the Access to Health Records Act 1990 (AHRA) and can take up to 40 days to process.

This is correct 1 Aug 2022,
apply to last Doc, they confirm with PCSE and after you have proven all ID to PCSE they give permission to release records.

bobster2

elsien said:

This guidance does specifically reference probate documentation. Perhaps that is what the practice is following.

https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/access-to-the-health-and-care-records-of-deceased-people/

Do you have any other documentation they should accept instead such as letters of administration or proof you are an executor of any will? 

From a previous thread - I don't think that @RomfordNavy is named as executor but would like to contest the will - and needs access to the medical records for this.

Is that right @RomfordNavy?

Keep_pedalling

bobster2 said:

elsien said:

This guidance does specifically reference probate documentation. Perhaps that is what the practice is following.

https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/access-to-the-health-and-care-records-of-deceased-people/

Do you have any other documentation they should accept instead such as letters of administration or proof you are an executor of any will? 

From a previous thread - I don't think that @RomfordNavy is named as executor but would like to contest the will - and needs access to the medical records for this.

Is that right @RomfordNavy?

No, that was a cousin.

Malthusian

RomfordNavy said:

Any suggestions on how to deal with this or who to escalate the complaint to?

Apply for letters of administration.
If there's a compo claim the probate fees should be a triviality.

RomfordNavy

bobster2 said:

From a previous thread - I don't think that @RomfordNavy is named as executor but would like to contest the will - and needs access to the medical records for this.

Is that right @RomfordNavy?

Different person.  That original issue is also still ongoing.