Historic Medical Records

[LIZS]

Just wondering what would have happened to hospital records from 40+ years ago. Diagnosed with an issue in childhood which was monitored in an outpatient clinic but no treatment available, so it stopped and I moved away. A more recent problem, which might be connected, has made me think about that diagnosis but I have no explanation to share with gp as parents' recollection is limited. How long do NHS Trusts store records for?

If nhs it will be with your GP records

NHS doesn’t archive living patients records no matter how long ago.

I've been trying to track down my childhood records from Alder Hey (inpatient surgery, outpatient clinics afterwards) from approx 50 years ago and they don't exist. Alder Hey doesn't have them, my GP doesn't have them, and I've hit a brick wall.

Most hospitals will keep them for around 10 years after your last visit to a hospital in the same trust, or 10 years after you turn 18 if you were treated there as a child.
Your GP will have basic notes relating to hospital stays / appointments (letters from your consultant, discharge letters etc) as your GP notes move around with you.

They probably do exist but may not be readily available. I remember being involved in something that needed a volume which was ultimately tracked to the middle of a 40foot shipping container in a pile of shipping containers. (One volume in a batch of about 1300 requested).

The requests for the notes were eventually refused with a very well written costing of the man hours and charges quoted by the storage facility to retrieve them.

If for some reason they were ever digitised or microfilmed you may have more luck.

I've moved GP many times since, so doubtful they will have followed me and the tests would not have been at GP. Guess I could contact the Trust concerned, although restructuring and clinic closures may make it too time-consuming and costly to DSAR.

Is it for you or someone else?

They are often microfiche. Ask medical records what they can unearth

@Lovelyveg80 for me.
@Dallahaun medical records where?

I have already submitted at DSAR for my local hospital notes but this issue would predate them.

Think I've identified the clinic now so can presumably contact the Trust to see if they can help.

I had to get my entire medical record from the GP some years ago. There is nothing until I was 15, then nothing between 18 and 22 and then they are reasonably complete from 22 onwards, but no referral letters or test results at all.

Some quite important things are missing. It would appear that the consultant who told me in clinic that I had CFS never saw fit to put it in writing to my GP,

@TheOtherHotstepper that seems odd.

The response was that children's records were destroyed after 25th birthday, so no joy.