The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 give you rights to see information held about you by organisations. This is called the right of access.
You can find out more about getting copies of your information on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
Organisations (‘data controllers’) must handle and manage your information in a specific way.
Requests for health care records relating to people who have died can be made according to the Access to Health Records Act 1990 (AHRA). This act has specific requirements governing what information can be released. Read more at the end of this page.
NHS Central East ICB may hold information from predecessor organisations (NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB, NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB which ceased to operate on 31 March 2026. Please note that information relating to West Essex may now held by the new NHS Essex ICB.
Who can ask for information about me?
You have a right to access information about yourself. There may be circumstances where someone else has the right to access your medical records. This could be:
- where you have given someone else permission to access your records and have given your consent in writing
- where you are able to give consent and are not capable of managing your own affairs – the person responsible for managing your affairs will normally have the right of access
- in the case of a child, the parent(s) will normally have the right of access although this is at the discretion of the organisational holding the record.
After your death, your personal representative or the person managing your affairs will normally have the right of access to relevant parts of your health record.
There are also certain other rights of access laid down in law, where a request has been made as part of a criminal investigation. Information will normally only be provided with your consent, but there are certain exceptions to this.
Applying to access your records
Requests for personal information can be online, in writing, by email or on the telephone. The easiest way is to complete this online form. <<insert form using current BLMK one as template>> . If you make a request by phone, we may have to speak to you again to gather further information about you and the information you are requesting.
If you wish to write to us to make a Subject Access Request our address is:
Information Governance Team
NHS Central East ICB
Gemini House
Bartholomew’s Walk
Cambridgeshire Business Park
Angel Drove
Ely
CB7 4EA
When making your request, please include the following details:
- your name, address, and postcode
- any relevant case reference numbers
- the type of information or documents you want to look at, including any relevant dates
- how you would like us to send the information to you (for example, hard copy, large print or by email)
The Information Governance Team can be contacted by phone by calling our main switchboard on 0330 057 1025.
Once we receive your request, we may ask for documents to enable us to check your identity, your proof of address and whether you are permitted to receive this information (if requesting the information on behalf of someone else).
Will I be charged for access to the records?
In most cases we will not charge a fee.
We will charge a reasonable fee if you ask for further copies of information where that same information has already been provided to you. The fee will only be based on the administrative costs of providing further copies.
When you can expect to hear from us
Once we receive your form we will do all we can to provide you with the requested information within one calendar month. An extension may be needed if the request is complicated.
Very occasionally we may not be able to provide the information you are requesting within this time frame. If this happens, we will let you know. If you are requesting information for someone else, we will keep them informed too.
Limited Access
Under current legislation we can limit access to a person’s records in certain cases. For example:
- If we believe the information could be detrimental to the requester’s wellbeing, we may refuse the request in part or whole
- If a third party has provided information in confidence, and the information was given on the basis that it would not be shared, these parts of the record would not be released
- If the data subject has requested that information is not disclosed.
Access to Health Records Act (AHRA) 1990
When a person dies, their personal representative, executor, administrator, or anyone having a claim resulting from the death, has a right to apply for access to the person’s health records. Where the record indicates that the deceased person did not wish their information to be disclosed, this must remain so unless a court order is obtained. The deceased patient’s health record access is provided on the basis of the request under AHRA as common law of confidentiality remains after a person is deceased.