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Access to your medical records

The Medico Legal Department at our Trust deals with access to patient’s medical records.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation 2018, you, or an authorised representative, are entitled to access your health record. This can include (but is not limited to) solicitors, veterans’ agency, the department of works and pensions, and the police. 

The department also completes Medical Insurance Forms from Healthcare Insurance Companies.

Department opening hours are 8.30am – 5pm Monday-Thursday and 8.30am – 4.30pm on Fridays (closed on Bank Holidays).

Please note: Our Trust offers a Patient Portal service to help you have quick digital access to your hospital information; including, hospital letters and documentation, appointment details, monitoring of your test results and more. Find out more about what the portal offers.

 

How to access your record

Please telephone the Medico Legal Department (01284 713456) to request a form or email accesshealthrecords@wsh.nhs.uk giving your name, date of birth and address. 

You can also download an application form via the link here.

You will be required to provide two forms of identification, and one will need to be proof of address.

Please return the application form to the Medico Legal Department, together with your copies of identification: 

Medico Legal Department
West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Hardwick Lane
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk  IP33 2QZ

You can send us your application form and identification documents using our secure email service, Zivver. Please click here and follow the instructions. You will be sent a verification email and code to use, which provides access to send us your message and documents securely. 

 

Fees and receiving your record

Under GDPR, no charge can be made for access to medical records (including postage costs) unless the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in which case a reasonable fee may be charged or request declined . These circumstances are rare and judged on a case-by-case basis.  For any further copies requested by the person, the Trust may also charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs, which will be:

  • £10.00 for duplications of same request to same recipient on a disk
  • £50.00 for duplications of same request to same recipient on paper

 

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us.

We do ask applicants to be specific about which episodes of treatment they wish to have copies of and to complete the application as fully as possible. 

The process takes approximately 30 days, and the information will be provided as per your instructions on the application form. Please note that the disc is not compatible with an Apple Mac Computer.

We are also able to provide information via a secure file sharing system if requested.