Medical records hold information about you. They are also sometimes called health records.

You'll have separate records for any NHS service you go to including your GP surgery, hospital, dentist or opticians.

How to get your record depends on which record it is.

Your GP record includes information like any conditions or allergies you have and any medicine you're taking.

Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR): You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. To request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request should be made to the Practice by completing a subject access request form  – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them
• There is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you
• We are required to respond to you within one month

You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records located information we hold about you at any time.

The age of Consent

The law in Scotland states that all children aged 12 and over are deemed to have capacity to give consent to accessing their medical records, unless there is a medical reason that they do not have capacity. 

By LAW, they are entitled to make the decision as to who can assess their records and what information is provided. The GP is also entitled to speak to a child of this age on their own, to ensure there is no pressure from either parent (however they can have a medical member of staff as a chaperone). 

We cannot discuss any clinical information with parents of children aged 12 and over without their consent. Please note, for parents phoning up for advice regarding their children of this age, or to discuss medication, we will need consent from your child.

If you are completing this application on behalf of another person, the Practice will require their authorisation before we can release the data to you. The person whose information is being requested should sign the relevant section within the online form. If the patient is a child (i.e. under 16 years of age) the application may be made by someone with parental responsibilities – in most cases this means a parent or guardian. If the child is capable of understanding the nature of the application, his or her consent should be obtained or, alternatively, the child may submit an application on their own behalf.  Children will, generally, be presumed to understand the nature of the application if aged between 13 and 16 however, all cases will be considered individually.