We as your healthcare providers are committed to ensuring the integrity and accuracy of our patient data. You, as the patient, have the right to query the accuracy of the data held about you within your health record and request for it to be corrected, removed, or amended. This is known as the ‘right to rectification’.
How To Query Your Data
To exercise your right to query, you need inform the surgery that you are querying the accuracy of your data and want it corrected. Our surgery has a form for you to complete that will begin the process to review, research and, if necessary, amend your health record.
On the form you should:
- State clearly what you believe is inaccurate or incomplete
- Explain how you wish the surgery to correct it, and
- Where available, provide evidence of the inaccuracies.
When the surgery is asked to correct/amend data, we take reasonable steps to investigate whether the data is accurate and will be able to demonstrate we have done so. To do this it should consider your arguments and any evidence you provide.
The surgery will then contact you and either:
- Confirm it has corrected, deleted, or amended, or
- inform you we cannot change the data and explain why we believe the data is accurate.
Both your query and our response will be placed in your health record and any further correspondence concerning the query as well.
Can We Refuse To Comply With a Request For Rectification?
A surgery can refuse to comply with a request for rectification if it believes that the request is what the law calls “manifestly unfounded or excessive”. In reaching this decision, we can take into account whether the request is repetitive. This is not the same as requesting the outcome be reviewed after the initial request has been processed.
In either case, we will notify you to explain our decision.
How Long Will The Processing of My Query Take?
A surgery has one month to respond to your request. In certain circumstances we may need extra time to consider your request and can take up to an extra two months. If this is the case, we will let you know within one month that we require more time and why.
Will there be a fee?
No, we will not charge for this.
If You Are Dissatisfied With The Outcome
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your request, you should contact us to discuss why you disagree and believe that the outcome should be reviewed and modified.
Having done so, if you remain dissatisfied you can make a complaint to your local ICB.
If you wish to request a rectification of a health record, please complete the form below and return to us at [email protected] or you can print it, fill it in and hand in to us at reception.
