Why we collect information about you

Your doctor and other health professionals caring for you (e.g. nurse or physiotherapist) keep records about your health and treatment so they are able to provide you with the best possible care.

These records are called your ‘Health Record’.

Your Health Record may be stored in paper form or electronically on computer databases, and can include information such as:

• Your name, address and date of birth
• Details of your next of kin or named emergency contact
• Details of your hospital appointments
• Notes about your health and any treatments and/or procedures you have undergone
• Test results – e.g. laboratory and X-ray results

How your Health Record is used to help you

Your Health Record is used to ensure that:

• Health care professionals looking after you have accurate and up-to-date information about you, to help them assess and decide on any future care you may require.
• We are able to assess how well you have been looked after
• Your concerns can be properly investigated should you make a complaint

How your Health Record is used to help the NHS

Health Records are used to assist with:

• Looking after the health of the general public – e.g. notifying central NHS groups of outbreaks of infectious diseases
• Reporting events to the appropriate authorities when we are required to do so by law – e.g. notification of births
• Paying your GP or hospital for the care you have received
• The audit of NHS accounts and clinical audit of the quality of services provided
• Reporting and investigation of complaints, claims and untoward incidents
• Service planning to ensure we meet the needs of our population in the future
• Preparing statistics on our http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/servicedescription.aspx

How you can arrange to see or have copies of your own Health Records

The Data Protection Legislation (made up of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went live on 25th May 2018, together with the UK Data Protection Act 2018, and entitles you to view or obtain copies of the information contained in your Health Records.

If you would like to see or obtain a copy of your Health Records you will need to make a subject access request, providing proof of your identity, to the Subject Access Request Team at The Royal Hallamshire Hospital or at Northern General Hospital. The application forms and addresses can be found below, and you can fill the forms in online or print them out for completion.

Please note that there is no charge for the time and administration involved except when additional copies of already supplied information are requested. The Trust has 28 days to supply your information from receipt of your request

You should be aware that in certain circumstances your right to see some details in your health care record may be limited in your own best interests.

You have a right to request that any inaccuracies be corrected or annotated. Your family and friends are not allowed to ask to see your records without your written consent.

If you are a patient or their representative (with consent of the patient) and you would like to obtain copies of any medical records held within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, please use our online SAR portal (link lelow) and select the relevant application form to make your request. You will also find some helpful FAQs and a user guide on the portal homepage.

Once you have signed up and made an account within the portal you will be able to log in to see the status of your request. Once your request has been completed, you will be able to view and download the medial records and radiology images from your computer or mobile phone.

SAR Portal

SAR portal user guide

If you require any assistance with requesting medical records, please contact the Subject Access Team on sht-tr.sars@nhs.net or call 0114 2713054.

The member of Staff overviewing the Data Protection Legislation is the Data Protection Officer/Head of Information Governance. Should you have any queries regarding data protection of information governance please contact him on 0114 2265151 or email sth.infogov@nhs.net

Data Protection Officer
Department for Information Governance, Caldicott & SIRO Support
2 Claremont Place
Sheffield S10 2TB