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 in folders (e.g. notes, letters and forms), others are kept on secure computer systems.

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

Records may include one or more of the following information:

• Basic details about you, such as your name, address, date of birth, NHS number, National Insurance number and demographics
  
  
• Contact we have had with you, e.g. clinic visits, therapy appointments
  
  
• Notes and reports about assessments, treatment and care provided
  
  
• Results of tests and investigations, training and next of kin details.
  
  
• Letters relating to your care, e.g. letters to your GP or social services
  
  
• Information from other professionals involved in your care or from relatives or other people who care for you, this list is not exhaustive.

All employees working in the NHS are bound by a legal duty of confidence to protect personal data they may come into contact with during the course of their work. This is not just a requirement of their contractual responsibilities but also a requirement within the common law duty of confidence and the data protection laws.

Always tell us when your information changes, such as your address, GP, telephone number, next of kin/emergency contact details or if you feel we should add something about you to your records.

You are entitled to be told if we hold information about you and also be given a copy of the information if you request for 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).

In general, we will 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:

• Completing a form and sending it to us. Download the form here
  
  
• Sending an email to sar@westlondon.nhs.uk 
  
  
• Writing to us at:Information Governance Team
  West London NHS Trust
  Trust Headquarters
  1 Armstrong Way
  Southall
  UB2 4SD
  
  
• Call us on 020 8354 8354 and ask to be connected to 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 below)
• Details of the specific information you require and any relevant dates, for example:
  – your medical records (between 2006 & 2009)
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  ​Proof of identity

Before we can release any information, you will need to provide us with copies of documents to verify your identity. We will need at least one of each type of document listed below:

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 will always consider the best interests of the child and whether they are mature enough to understand their rights.

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

Access is available to:

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

You can request for copies of a deceased person’s health record by completing the following form and returning it back to the Information Governance team.