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07 June 2018
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Q. Can a GMS patient request a copy of their medical record from their GP?

A. Under Article 15 of GDPR, the patient, whether GMS or private, has a right to access a copy of their medical record. The GP shall provide a copy of the patient's medical record on receipt of a signed request or authorisation form. The access request should be carried out as soon as possible, and no later than 30 days after the access request. No fee is chargeable for providing a copy of the medical record. It is important for the practice to verify the identity of the person making an access request or providing an access authorisation.

An individual can only make an access request for their own personal data. Legal guardians can also make an access request on behalf of a child. However, once a child is capable of understanding their rights to privacy and data protection, the child should normally decide for themselves whether to request access to data and make the request in their own name. This is not age-dependent. It would also be important in such a case that the GP be satisfied that the person was genuinely acting on behalf of, and in the best interests of, the child whose data was being requested. The right to access may be restricted, as per Section 54 of the Data Protection Bill 2018, if the disclosure of the
record to the patient 'would be likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the data subject'. In any situation where access is denied, the GP must advise the patient of the reason invoked for the restriction either at the time access is denied or as soon as is advisable thereafter.

In addition, only the part of the medical record likely to cause harm can be withheld, the rest of the medical record should be released in the usual way. The patient has a right to appeal the restriction to the Data Protection Commissioner.

There is a useful 'protocol for managing a record access
request' available in the appendices section of the ICGP
Data Protection Guideline, available at www.icgp.ie/data