Privacy Notice: Access to Medical Reports

The Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 gives you the right to see medical reports written about you, for employment or insurance purposes, by a doctor who you usually see in a ‘normal’ doctor/patient capacity. This includes reports written by your GP or a specialist who has provided care and, in some circumstances, an occupational health doctor.

This right can be exercised either before or after the report is sent.

Employers and Insurers are required to seek your consent prior making a request and you must be informed of their right to withhold consent during this initial process. It is also the responsibility of the company requesting a report about you to inform us whether you wish to see the report and also to inform you that a report has been requested.

If the request we receive indicates that you wish to see the report, you have 21 days to arrange this with us. Should this not be indicated, we will send the report to the requesting organisation.

Where requests are made for copies of your medical records for insurance purposes, we will contact you to discuss the request and confirm you are happy for us to release the records. This is in line with guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

1) Controller contact details

The Westwood Surgery
24 Westwood Lane 
Welling 
Kent
DA16 2HE
020 8303 5353

2) Data Protection Officer contact details

GP Data Protection Officer
gpdpo@selondonics.nhs.uk

3) Purpose of the processing

To provide the requested medical reports to requesting organisations for employment or insurance purposes.

4) Lawful basis for processing

The legal basis will be

Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’;

And

Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine’

5) Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data

The data will be shared with the specified employment or Insurance organisation or specified Officers. Patients may also request a copy of a report.

6) Rights to object

You have the right to signal any disagreement with matters of fact recorded in the report, and to append their disagreement to the report, or to withdraw their consent for the release of the information.

In line with BMA guidance, the Practice is unable to comply with requests to leave out relevant information from reports. If you retract consent for certain relevant information to be included, the Practice would be unable to write the report.

7) Right to access and correct

You have the right to access the data that is being shared and have any inaccuracies corrected. 

There is no right to have accurate medical records deleted except when ordered by a court of Law.

8) Retention period

The data will be retained for active use during the processing and thereafter according to NHS Policies and the law.

9) Right to Complain.

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office

Or calling their helpline Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)

There are National Offices for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, (see ICO website)