Druids Heath Surgery – 0121 430 5461
Maypole Health Centre – 0121 430 5551
Birmingham Heartlands – 0121 772 2020

Access to medical records

Your care records

Your medical record is an integral part of your healthcare and every patient that registers at the practice will have one. As a paperlight accredited practice the medical records that we hold on each patient is now an electronic record held on our clinical computer system. Each time you have a consultation or we receive information about you the medical record is updated to reflect this allowing the most up to date information to be available at all times.

The medical record is accessed by clinical and administrative staff working at the practice, of which all staff are duty bound under the codes of confidentiality. For further information on medical record confidentiality, please read our Confidentiality Statement. We may on occasion share information we hold about you with other allied health care professionals involved in your care such as hospital clinicians if we refer you to secondary care etc. Your medical records will not be disclosed to any other third party without your prior consent. If you would like to consent to a third party accessing your medical records please read the relevant section below.

The practice is registered and complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information.

Summary Care Record

If you’re registered with a GP surgery, you’ll have a Summary Care Record unless you’ve chosen not to have one. It contains basic information including your allergies, medicines and any reactions you’ve had to medicine in the past. By storing all this information in one place, it makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

You cannot get your Summary Care Record online. If you’d like to see it, speak to your GP.

To opt out of having a Summary Care Record, speak to your GP or another health professional.

Coronavirus update: During the coronavirus outbreak, you will also have extra information added to your record. This includes significant medical history (past and present), reasons for medicines, care plan information and vaccinations.

For further information, follow this link to visit the ‘How to access your health records’ page on the NHS website.

GP2GP

The General Medical Services GP Contract requires practices to use GP2GP for transferring electronic health records.

You will expect GPs to have your medical records for your first consultation at the new practice. With GP2GP, the record arrives straight after the registration. In comparison, paper medical records can take weeks or months to arrive.

GP2GP also means practices can support the Health Secretary’s objective that patients should have digital records that follow them around the health and social care system.

Find our more about GP2GP on the NHS website

Your data matters to the NHS

Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning.

You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13.

Your choice will only apply to the health and care system in England. This does not apply to health or care services accessed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Find out how this data is used and how to opt out on the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

Caldicott Guardian

The practice will always have a senior member of staff acting as the Caldicott Guardian in order to maintain confidentiality of patient and service user information and enabling appropriate information sharing. For further information, please visit the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Caldicott Guardian page.

Data Protection

The medical records we hold fully comply with the Data Protection Act. The medical records will only be accessed for the benefit of your healthcare and will be accessed by staff that are involved in providing that care. The data controller for the practice is the senior partner. For further information on Data Protection, please visit the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Data Protection Act page.

Access to Medical Records Act

Under the Access to Medical Records Act, patients are able to access their medical records. In order to access your records a written request must be made to the practice together with the fee to provide this service. To find out the current fee please contact the practice.

For further information on Medical Records Act, please visit the Government’s legislation website to read more about the Access to Medical Records Act.

Allowing consent to a third party

If you would like to give consent to another party to access information about you, for example your partner, relative, carer, solicitor etc please download and complete our Third Party Access Form. This form must be returned by you to the practice in person to validate your identity and ensure security of your medical record.

Date published: 10th October, 2014
Date last updated: 25th October, 2021