medical records

This is what the NHS have to say about medical records:

www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?categoryid=68&subcategoryid=160

so your GP seems to be going against what they say here.

I had to pay £50 for my records which I understood was to cover their manpower costs.

Another avenue of approach would be to take the case to the Information Commissioners Office.

There is general advice regarding subject access requests, including how to get the information you require, the exceptions, how to complain and the procedures available on the information Commissioners website here:

www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/personal_i...age/access_info.aspx

It maybe an idea to print off this information and show it to the practice manager at your GP's surgery. The Practice Manager should have knowledge of these procedures anyway but a reminder of their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act may not go amiss.

Pete

There are plans to make medical records available free to patients online, but this is still under discussion.

If you are under a hospital Consultant (s) then each time you see them, they send a letter to your GP and you are legally entitled to have a copy of that letter sent to you free. I do this with all three Consultants I'm under, as I see them at different hospitals within our NHS Trust, so they often get mislaid or delayed in transit.

Many NHS hospitals including mine will give you free access to your medical records if you are a current in or out- patient. Also many GP's, again including mine will let you see your medical records on an informal basis, but not all GP's or hospitals allow this.

If your's doesn't then as others have said, you need to use the Data Protection Act 1998 to gain access and have copies of medical reports etc.