How to access your health records
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows you or, in some cases, your representative, to ask for information we hold about you and your care.
How to access your health records
If you, or your representative, would like to request a copy of your health records, please follow these steps:
1. Contact the Marie Curie Hospice which provided your care
For our hospice contact details, call 0800 716 146 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or find the contact details that you need online, or contact:
The Caldicott Guardian
Marie Curie
One Embassy Gardens
8 Viaduct Gardens
London
SW11 7BW
Caldicott.Guardian@mariecurie.org.uk
2. Complete Marie Curie’s Patient Information Access Request Form
Download the form and complete it. If you need help or more information on how to make your request, please contact our hospice or the Caldicott Guardian for advice or visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website .
3. Send us your completed form
To make sure you have proof of your request, we would advise you to use recorded mail delivery if you’re sending us your Patient Information Access Form by post. Or if you’re sending your form to us by email, remember to keep a copy of the email.
4. When we receive your form, we may ask you for proof of identity (such as your passport)
If someone else is asking for access to your health records on your behalf, we may contact you to confirm the request or if we need more information from you.
A person’s health records are usually held for up to ten years after their death.
Under the Access to Health Records Act 1990 , other people are allowed to view your health records after your death – but only if they are your personal representative (either an executor named in your will or an administrator of your estate if you died without a will (intestate) or if they may have a claim arising out of your death.
A few things to note
- Requests for your health information are normally free of charge.
- We’ll reply within one month of receiving your request form and confirm any fees that are applicable.
- We’ll try our best to provide you with all the information you have asked for. If you think we've given you any information incorrectly, or you've not been given all the information you think you should be getting, please let us know by contacting the manager at the hospice that provided your care or the Caldicott Guardian or the Data Protection Officer, as appropriate.
- In some instances, we may not be able to provide you with all the information you've requested. For example, we may hold back certain information if it relates to another person and, as such, we'd need their permission to provide it to you.
Our commitment to you
The GDPR and the NHS Code of Practice for Confidentiality set out the way we use your personal information. We have a number of processes that we follow to make sure your information is secure with us.
Sometimes we may need to share information about you with other agencies or individuals so that we can all work together for your benefit.
We’ll only ever use or pass on information about you if other healthcare professionals involved in your care have a genuine need for it. They will also be subject to regulatory requirements to keep your information confidential.
Find out more
If you'd like to know more about how we use your information or your rights under the GDPR, please contact the relevant Hospice Manager or contact our Data Protection Officer.
By post
The Data Protection Officer
Marie Curie
One Embassy Gardens
8 Viaduct Gardens
London
SW11 7BW
By email
We can also provide this information to anyone you may want us to, such as your family members or close friends.