Successful access to care home records
Miss P called the helpline as she was trying to gain access to her deceased mothers care notes from her former care home. The home was refusing to provide them, citing data protection rules. She had done some preliminary research herself and believed that these rules only applied to living people.
Our helpline worker confirmed Miss P’s understanding that the care home was wrong to rely on the current General Data Protection Rules to block access to her mother’s care notes. They advised her that, as the executor of her mother’s will, she could request access to the records under the 1990 Access to Health Records Act.
Miss P rang back the next day to tell us that she had done as advised, the care home had ‘reconsidered’ and that they were sending her the notes as requested.