Guidance on requests for information

Information about your personal treatment and care is confidential and will normally be something you will discuss with the healthcare professionals you meet. However, there may be other issues about which you would like further information or you may just want to have a copy of the information we hold about you.

Your right to request access to your personal records

The Data Protection Act 2018 incorporating the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) gives living individuals the right to request access to personal records held about them by organisations such as ours. This is known as a subject access request (SAR). The Data Protection Act 2018 requires the trust to comply with requests for information within one month of receipt.

Any individual can make a request for their own information. In addition, an individual may nominate a representative (such as a solicitor, relative or just someone they trust) to apply on their behalf. In this case, there must be a valid consent signed by the individual who authorises the release of information to the representative.

Request access to someone else’s personal records (including children)

Even if a child is too young to understand the implications of subject access rights, it is still the right of the child rather than of anyone else such as a parent or guardian. So it is the child who has a right of access to the information held about them, even though in the case of young children these rights are likely to be exercised by those with parental responsibility for them.

Whilst there is no legal age limit in the UK that young people may apply themselves, the trust takes the guidance of the information commissioner’s office whereby a person aged 12 years or over, is presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to be able to exercise their right of access, unless the contrary is shown. Therefore they should be consulted regarding any request that has been made for their records by another individual, even if another individual has parental responsibility for them.

All people have the same rights over their personal data, regardless of their age. These include the rights to access their own personal data; request rectification; object to processing and have their personal data erased.

For mentally incapacitated adults a person may make a request on their behalf if they have been granted power of attorney or agent by a court to manage their affairs.

Access to deceased patient records

The Access to Health Records Act 1990 provides certain individuals with a right of access to the health records of a deceased individual. These individuals are defined under section 3(1)(f) of the act as ‘the patients personal representative and any person who may have a claim arising out of the patients death’. A personal representative is the executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate.

How to request access

If you wish to request access to patient records, you will need to complete the enclosed application form and either, post to:

Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber Foundation NHS Trust
Information Governance Health Informatics
Woodfield House
Tickhill Road Site
Tickhill Road
Balby
Doncaster
DN4 8QN

Or email with the required copy documentation (please note that this is not a secure method to send personal or sensitive information):

Email: rdash.ig@nhs.net

You can obtain a copy of the application form on the trust’s access you information and submit using the above methods.

What documentation will I need to provide

In most cases we will require copies of two items of evidence of identity and all ID must be current, see table below:

Documentation to provide
Type of applicant	Type of evidence
An individual applying for their own records	two items of proof of identity required, for example, full birth certificate or passport or driving license or marriage certificate
Someone applying on behalf of an another individual, over the age of 12	two items of proof of identity required And: one item of proof of the representative’s identity (see examples of proof of identity above) (where the 3rd party requestor is a solicitor, legal firm, other role on behalf of an organisation etc. proof of identity of requestor is not required)
Someone applying on behalf of an another individual, under the age of 12 (Where the 3rd party requestor is a solicitor, legal firm, other role on behalf of an organisation etc. proof of identity of requestor is not required)	two items of proof of identity required And: one item of proof of the representative’s identity (see examples of proof of identity above) plus proof of parental responsibility: copy of full birth certificate or copy of court order appointing parental responsibility, adoption order, etc.
Power of attorney or agent applying on behalf of an individual	two items of proof of identity required And: one item of proof of the representative’s identity (see examples of proof of identity above) plus a copy of the power of attorney
Deceased records, patients representative, for example, executor or administrator of estate	proof of requestor’s identity copy of death certificate evidence that they are either executor or administrator of the deceased patient’s estate. This could be a solicitors letter or a copy of the will or letters of administration
Person with a claim arising out of the patients death	proof of requestor’s identity copy of death certificate evidence of claim. This could be a solicitors letter or a copy of the will

Exemptions to the release of personal information

In general, all the personal records you request will be released to you although there may be circumstances where certain information could be restricted. These include:

if it is considered that information in the records, if released, may be likely to cause serious mental or physical harm to yourself or another

And, or:

where there is personal information concerning another person contained within your records, for example, third party

Should one or both of these exemptions apply to your request, we will notify you.

How long will it take for you to complete my request?

There are time scales laid down by the acts, which state that you should be given the information within a month, although we can extend this time by a further two months if the request is ‘complex’ or you have made a number of requests.

How will the information be provided?

In most cases, copies of the records will be made and sent to you (or you can collect the copies if you prefer). You may prefer to view the records, in which case the trust will arrange with you a suitable time and location for you to come in and view the records.

Will I be charged for access to the records?

In most cases we cannot charge a fee to comply with a subject access request. However, where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive we may charge a reasonable fee for the administrative costs of complying with the request. We can also charge a reasonable fee if an individual requests further copies of their data following a request. We will base the fee on the administrative costs of providing further copies.

If you are not satisfied with your response

In the first instance you should write to information governance explaining why you are dissatisfied with the response and asking for an internal review to be carried out.

If you remain unhappy and you wish to discuss further you can do this by writing to the trust’s data protection officer.

Details are:

Data Protection Officer
Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Foundation NHS Trust Information Governance Health Informatics
Woodfield House
Tickhill Road Site
Tickhill Road
Balby
Doncaster
DN4 8QN

Email: rdash.ig@nhs.net
Phone: 03000 211189

Independent advice

If you remain dissatisfied with the trust’s response you can contact the Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO), the body with responsibility for enforcing the Data Protection Act, and their contact details are:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number

Or:

ICO website (opens in new window) for further information about subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please note that the ICO does not support complaints or queries that have been made under the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

Requests for other health records for example, GP

If you require access to your primary care health record, the request should be made to the relevant GP, etc.

Page last reviewed: April 09, 2024
Next review due: April 09, 2025

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