Your health records

When you use services at West London NHS Trust, a health record will be created to keep important information about your care.

Your health record contains the details of appointments, care and treatment received in any of our services.

Doctors, nurses, therapists and other health professionals use this information to make sure that you receive the best possible care.

Some health records are kept on paper in folders, for example, notes, letters and forms, while others are kept on secure computer systems.

We also store non-health records as part of doing day to day business. This includes staff records, volunteers, security and other information relating to the running of the Trust.

Records may include one or more of the following types of information:

• Basic details about you, such as your name, address, date of birth, NHS number, National Insurance number and demographic information such as your race or gender
• Records of the contacts we’ve had with you, for example, when you visited a clinic
• Notes and reports about assessments, treatment and care
• Results of your tests and investigations
• Letters about your care, for example, letters from the Trust to your GP or social services
• For staff, training and next of kin details

Information from other professionals involved in your care or from relatives or other people who care for you.

Read this Easy Read factsheet about your rights and sharing information with professionals.

You’re entitled to be told if we hold information about you and to be given a copy of the information if you request it.

This is called the ‘right of Subject Access’. This right is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18).

See the Information Commissioner’s Office website for a Guide to Data Protection. 

In general, we’ll provide access to all the information we hold about you, but certain exemptions may apply. For example, we may withhold information that may cause you harm.

You can exercise your right of Subject Access by downloading and completing Access to Health Records Application form (Word).

Send your completed form

By email to: sar@westlondon.nhs.uk

By post to:
Information governance team
West London NHS Trust
Trust Headquarters
1 Armstrong Way
Southall
UB2 4SD

You can also call us on: 020 8354 8354 and ask for the information governance team.

Please give as much information as possible to help us respond to your request, including:

• Your full name, address and contact telephone number
• Proof of identity (see Documents you need)

Details of the specific information you require and any relevant dates. For example: your medical records between 2006 and 2009.
 

We need to see proof of who you are before we can give you any information.

You’ll need to provide us with copies of two types of documents:

• One proof of ID document
• One proof of address which is no more than three months old.

The application form gives a full list of documents you can send.

Examples include: 

For proof of ID:

• Driving licence
• Birth or adoption certificate
• Passport.

For proof of address:

• Utility bill, that’s your gas/electricity/telephone bill
• Official document, like a letter from a bank or building society
• Council Tax statement.

Please send photocopies, not original documents.

Information about children may be released to someone with parental responsibility.

This will not always be a child’s natural parents and parental responsibility can be held by more than one natural or legal person. However, we’ll always consider the best interests of the child and whether they’re mature enough to understand their rights.

Complete the Access to Health Records Application Form and send it to us. 

The Access to Health Records Act 1990 grants rights to certain people to see what’s been written about a deceased patient in hospital and other health records. This only applies to written records made on or after 1 November 1991.

Access is available to:

• The patient’s personal representative (this will be the executor of the will or the administrator of the estate)
• Any person who may have a claim arising out of the patient’s death.

Complete the Access to Health Records Application Form and send it to us. Download the form (Word).

All NHS employees must protect personal information they see at work. They are bound by a legal duty of confidence to protect personal data with which they may come into contact during the course of their work. 

This confidentiality is part of their contract and is also a requirement of the common law duty of confidence and data protection laws.

You should always tell us when your information changes. For example, when you change your:

• Address
• GP
• Telephone number
• Next of kin/emergency contact details.

You should also tell us if you feel new information about you should be added to your records.