UK Doctor and dentist will not release our medical records?

We are repatriating this month (after four years in UK).  I would really like to give copies of our medical records and dental treatments to our new caregivers.

Both the medical centre and the dental practice say they will not give us anything, as they have to retain the medical/dental records for at least seven years after the patient leaves the practice.

Is this typical?  I cannot begin to describe, for example, the work my son has had done to his teeth to a new dentist.  I need the dental record to show visits, work done, x rays.  I really don't want to start over again without some documentation of our medical and dental visits.

Any ideas for how to get these released?  I would prefer not to have the new doctor/dentist have to request these once we've in America.  Then we have postage issues, etc.

that sounds strange...they won't even give you copies of the records? Under the Freedom of Information/Data Protection Acts you certainly have a right to your own medical records.

Yeah, it caught me off guard.  I can't imagine having to explain the medical history for all five of us in the family as we see new doctor(s) in the U.S.  I can't get the dates exact, for a start!

Dumb question:  is that Act a UK Act or U.S.?  I have heard of Freedom of Info in the States, but not here.

I know in the States you can pay for copies (which I offered to do) or even hire a service to go get your copies for you.  But I am not familiar with how it works in UK.

http://www.patients-association.org.uk/onlinewebmanager/downloads/Medicalrecords.pdf



Vicky

Vicky, that is so helpful, thank you!  I see I have every right to our records.   Shame i have to be the one to bring this up to the medical and dental practices!!

Thanks again.

muse, to answer your question I was referring to UK acts....part of my library school course here in England covers freedom of information issues so I'm fairly familiar with both of the (UK) Acts I mentioned.

Good luck getting your hands on those records!

You can request a copy of any information held on you on computer, paper or recording under the Data Protection Act.  You can legally be charged up to 20 quid for it.  The UK Freedom of Information Act only covers information from government agencies which can be released to the public domain - i.e. NOT personal information (never make the mistake of quoting the FOI act when requesting personal information as you could quite correctly be told that it doesn't cover your personal information).

If you are refused access to your information, report it to the Information Commissioner - http://www.ico.gov.uk/ - refusal is illegal (unless it would compromise national security or suchlike)

Thank you once again!  I didn't quote the Freedom of Info Act when I contacted them yesterday, I did reference the two relevant Acts in the PDF brochure Vicky posted.  I hope that's okay.

The medical centre backed down and agreed to give us our records (or copies?) but I need to follow up and make sure they aren't going to ignore me until we leave the country.  Harder to get this done once we're gone.

The dental practice is still saying they do not even give copies!  They said when we come in next (in two weeks) 'maybe' and 'hopefully' the dentist will make an effort to give us copies of our records.

So I'm going to send them an official request.  I thought it could be done via email but they are saying such crap, I will go the post route. 

Like I need this right now!

Glad to be of help.

Too many doctors are unaware of the rules, or think that they have a right to play God and keep hold of this information. 

You may well just get copies of your records, but that should be fine.

I don't know why the dentist thinks he's exempt. 


Vicky

I'm surprised. I worked for a life insurance company as a temp for a few months here and I was horrified at the number of doctors/surgeries that would send the ORIGINALS of medical records when asked for copies.  What if they had gotten lost - either by us or in the post? It seemed pretty common practice.

I'm not 100% certain if dentists fall under the Primary Care Trust - I know GPs do. But you should contact the Patient Records office at your Primary Care Trust and tell them you want to do a Data Protection Act request to get a copy of your records. You may have to fill out a form and pay (£50 is the cap - the charge depends on how many pages they have to copy for you) but they have to release them.

If you have any trouble contact the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) at the PCT and ask them to help you. Every PCT is required to have PALS and you should be able to find their phone number on the Trust website very easily.