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Careers  |  Our charity  |  Our history  |  Find us  Need help now?
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Careers  |  Our charity  |  Our history  |  Find us 
Careers  |  Our charity  |  Our history  |  Find us  Need help now?
Home >   Patients and carers >   Treatment and care >   Your information
Patients and carers

Your information

Patients and carers

Your information

Patients and carers

Your information

Patients and carers

Your information

We keep information about you in your medical records. This information helps us to give you the best possible health care.

The information in your medical records includes:

  • basic details about you, such as your name, address and next of kin
  • contacts we have had with you, such as visits to clinics
  • notes and reports about your health, any treatment and care you need or receive
  • results of investigations, such as x-rays and laboratory tests
  • information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you and know you well
We have a legal obligation to keep your personal information confidential.
You may be seen by a number of staff within the Trust and may be transferred from one clinical service to another. The information you give to us will be available to all staff involved in your care.
If we need to use information about the care you receive for research or to improve our services, we remove your name and all other personal details which could identify you. If we need the information in a form that could identify you, we will ask for your permission first.

To find out more ask a member of staff or visit the research page on this website.
We share relevant information so doctors, nurses and other health professionals working for other care providers can access your health records, including test results, details of allergies and information about any previous treatment.

The linked information system for care providers in Bromley, Lambeth and Southwark, including Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College Hospital, is the King's Health Partners Local Care Record.

For Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham we use Connect Care. 

We will not give information about you to other organisations - such as housing departments, voluntary sector providers or education services - without your consent. However, there may be circumstances when either you or someone else might be at risk. In these circumstances, we have a legal obligation to share information with other organisations.

You have a right to see, or obtain a copy of, your medical records under the Data Protection Act (1998). You will need to write to the Data Protection Office and complete a Subject Access Request Form. The law says that you must have a response within 40 days of your application reaching the Data Protection Office. We will then provide you with a copy of your records.

Alternatively, we may give you an appointment for you to see them at the hospital. You may be refused access to some or all of your medical records, if the information would cause serious harm to your mental or physical health, or if the information relates to, or is provided by, someone else.

Other people, who need to see your medical records, can write to the Data Protection Office on your behalf, as long as they have written permission from you. This includes a legal representative, such as a solicitor, or any person instructed by a court to support you (if the court decides that you are unable to do some things by yourself, and you need help from someone else).

If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 16, you can ask to see their medical records. You will need to write to the Data Protection Office and complete a Subject Access Request Form (see: What if I want to see my medical records?). If your child is old enough to make a decision about this, you may not be able to see their records without their consent.

If you want  to see the medical records of a deceased person in relation to a claim, you need to write to the Data Protection Office. You may not be able to see the records if they contain information that the person expected to remain confidential. In addition, the Trust may refuse access if we believe that the information would cause serious harm to the mental or physical health of any other person, or would identify another person.

Under the Data Protection Act, you still have the right to apply for access to your UK medical records even though you may have moved abroad, as long as you are in the European Union. We will help people, where possible, who are in other countries.

It is very important that we have your correct details. If you change your name, address or telephone number, please tell your care co-ordinator so that we can update these details on your medical records.

For more information download the Local Care Record leaflet, you can also visit our Privacy and GDPR page or contact the Data Protection Office using the details below:

Data Protection Office
CR2-Clinical Records
Maudsley Hospital
Denmark Hill
London SE5 8AZ

dataprotectionoffice@slam.nhs.uk

020 3228 5174

If you are not happy about the way we handle your personal information and would like to make a complaint, you can speak to a member of staff at the Data Protection Office or make a formal complaint to the Complaints Department.

If you are still not pleased with the outcome, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner (the person responsible for regulating and enforcing the Data Protection Act). The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:

The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

For further information, you can visit their website at www.ico.gov.uk.