Is it easy to access full medical records?

[ChatterMonkey]

As the title says really, has anyone accessed this and is it easy to request?

No real reason to want to see it other than curiosity, the nhs app where it shows medical records but says you have to request to access full records got me curious.

Has anyone done this with curiosity being the only reason? How easy is it to access?

Mine are available via PatientAccess which is the app/website I use to make online appointments and request repeat prescriptions.

Mine says my GP surgery don't allow this. I would really like to see but think going through sending letters/emails pushing the point etc is a pain in the arse and I'm probably the minority.

Write or email them ask for your records under a subject access request.

They have 28 days to respond, with either your records, in a format you can view, or an explanation of why it would take longer.

It's straight forward and free.

Would they ask why i wanted to see them?

I feel like my reason for wanting to see is a bit weak, so is it worth the hassle of having to email etc?

What sort of format would they give? So for example if they say yes no problem, but you have to come into the practice to look at them, then i wouldnt bother. But uf they emailed/posted me a document then i would.

Also... Would they cover my whole medical history or just that practice? I fairly recently moved to england from scotland, would they have my full history?

Im realising im pretty nosy, i have a lot of questions about something i have no real reason to want to see 😂

I wrote to my local hospital to ask for all my records, and they sent me a form to complete, and I had to send photocopies of I.D. (passport and driving licence). They had 30 days, by law, in which to comply. I got the information I wanted, on a CD.

You're entitled to see your records. We give our patients full access we just have to see photo id and set it up. Simples.

No you can't really ever see your complete medical records. Well maybe going forward if you are very young (a young child) but not in general. Eg I can see everything held on system one (GP records) about me, but our mental health trust uses Mobius and sends the occasional report to the GP so those notes are not available even to the GP. The systems are not compatible. Plus even if you request records from each record holder, lots will have to be redacted if it mentions another patient or a confidential disclosure. I'm thinking group therapy sessions especially historically were recorded for the whole group, so mention other patients - redacted. Or if say your parent disclosed that you were a child born of rape - redacted.

I requested mine yesterday. Asked the receptionist how to go about gaining access she gave me a form to compete and I needed to show ID. Luckily I had my driving licence on me and that was it. She said it would be worked within the next few days.

Really simple and no bother at all.

It is a legal requirement to give full online access dating back to 1st April 2019 and coded records for all time (diagnoses, procedures etc.)
If you want full records for all time then you need to make a request in writing.
I would just add that this can be a lot of work for the staff if you haven't got any specific reason for the request. It's your right though so no questions will be asked as to why you want to see them.

Ah ok i wasnt sure how much hassle it was for the staff, i wouldnt want to give them something extra to do when they are so busy atm, will leave it for now and revisit at another point.

Tbh i dont even think i have much of a medical history, just curious in case there was something in childhood im unaware of or something, so absolutely dont want to increase someones workload for this reason!

I got mine, it was fairly easy, just had to fill a form in and take some id to the surgery. They’re also incredibly dull and mostly written in abbreviations, there’s a list of what all the abbreviations mean, but I got bored of looking them up very quickly.