Access to Health Records Act 1990
| Year | 1990 |
Access to Health RecordsAct 1990
1990 CHAPTER 23
An Act to establish a right of access to health records by the individuals to whom they relate and other persons; to provide for the correction of inaccurate health records and for the avoidance of certain contractual obligations; and for connected purposes.
[13th July 1990]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Preliminary
1 ‘Health record’ and related expressions.
(1) In this Act ‘health record’ means a record which—
(a) consists of information relating to the physical or mental health of an individual who can be identified from that information, or from that and other information in the possession of the holder of the record; and
(b) has been made by or on behalf of a health professional in connection with the care of that individual;
but does not include any record which consists of information of which the individual is, or but for any exemption would be, entitled to be supplied with a copy under section 21 of the Data Protection Act 1984 (right of access to personal data).
(2) In this Act ‘holder’, in relation to a health record, means—
(a) in the case of a record made by, or by a health professional employed by, a general practitioner—
(i) the patient's general practitioner, that is to say, the general practitioner on whose list the patient is included; or
(ii) where the patient has no general practitioner, the Family Practitioner Committee or Health Board on whose medical list the patient's most recent general practitioner was included;
(b) in the case of a record made by a health professional for purposes connected with the provision of health services by a health service body, the health service body by which or on whose behalf the record is held;
(c) in any other case, the health professional by whom or on whose behalf the record is held.
(3) In this Act ‘patient’, in relation to a health record, means the individual in connection with whose care the record has been made.
2 Health professionals.
(1) In this Act ‘health professional’ means any of the following, namely—
(a) a registered medical practitioner;
(b) a registered dentist;
(c) a registered optician;
(d) a registered pharmaceutical chemist;
(e) a registered nurse, midwife or health visitor;
(f) a registered chiropodist, dietician, occupational therapist, orthoptist or physiotherapist;
(g) a clinical psychologist, child psychotherapist or speech therapist;
(h) an art or music therapist employed by a health service body; and
(i) a scientist employed by such a body as head of a department.
(2) Subsection (1)(a) above shall be deemed to include any person who is provisionally registered under section 15 or 21 of the Medical Act 1983 and is engaged in such employment as is mentioned in subsection (3) of that section.
(3) If, after the passing of this Act, an order is made under section 10 of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960 , the Secretary of State may by order make such consequential amendments of subsection (1)(f) above as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient.
(4) The provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to health professionals in the public service of the Crown as they apply in relation to other health professionals.
Main provisions
3 Right of access to health records.
(1) An application for access to a health record, or to any part of a health record, may be made to the holder of the record by any of the following, namely—
(a) the patient;
(b) a person authorised in writing to make the application on the patient's behalf;
(c) where the record is held in England and Wales and the patient is a child, a person having parental responsibility for the patient;
(d) where the record is held in Scotland and the patient is a pupil, a parent or guardian of the patient;
(e) where the patient is incapable of managing his own affairs, any person appointed by a court to manage those affairs; and
(f) where the patient has died, the patient's personal representative and any person who may have a claim arising out of the patient's death.
(2) Subject to section 4 below, where an application is made under subsection (1) above the holder shall, within the requisite period, give access to the record, or the part of a record, to which the application relates—
(a) in the case of a record, by allowing the applicant to inspect the record or, where section 5 below applies, an extract setting out so much of the record as is not excluded by that section;
(b) in the case of a part of a record, by allowing the applicant to inspect an extract setting out that part or, where that section applies, so much of that part as is not so excluded; or
(c) in either case, if the applicant so requires, by supplying him with a copy of the record or extract.
(3) Where any information contained in a record or extract which is so allowed to be inspected, or a copy of which is so supplied, is expressed in terms which are not intelligible without explanation, an explanation of those terms shall be provided with the record or extract, or supplied with the copy.
(4) No fee shall be required for giving access under subsection (2) above other than the following, namely—
(a) where access is given to a record, or part of a record, none of which was made after the beginning of the period of 40 days immediately preceding the date of the application, a fee not exceeding the maximum prescribed under section 21 of the Data Protection Act 1984 ; and
(b) where a copy of a record or extract is supplied to the applicant, a fee not exceeding the cost of making the copy and (where applicable) the cost of posting it to him.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (2) above the requisite period is—
(a) where the application relates to a record, or part of a record, none of which was made before the beginning of the period of 40 days immediately preceding the date of the application, the period of 21 days beginning with that date;
(b) in any other case, the period of 40 days beginning with that date.
(6) Where—
(a) an application under subsection (1) above does not contain sufficient information to enable the holder of the record to identify the patient or, in the case of an application made otherwise than by the patient, to satisfy himself that the applicant is entitled to make the application; and
(b) within the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the application, the holder of the record requests the applicant to furnish him with such further information as he may reasonably require for that purpose,
subsection (5) above shall have effect as if for any reference to that date there were substituted a reference to the date on which that further information is so furnished.
4 Cases where right of access may be wholly excluded.
(1) Where an application is made under subsection (1)(a) or (b) of section 3 above and—
(a) in the case of a record held in England and Wales, the patient is a child; or
(b) in the case of a record held in Scotland, the patient is a pupil,
access shall not be given under subsection (2) of that section unless the holder of the record is satisfied that the patient is capable of understanding the nature of the application.
(2) Where an application is made under subsection (1)(c) or (d) of section 3 above, access shall not be given under subsection (2) of that section unless the holder of the record is satisfied either—
(a) that the patient has consented to the making of...
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