For hospital managers, doctors and other health care professionals, this book provides guidance on the legislation relating to the right of the individual to his or her medical records. Three sections cover: patient access; access and litigation; and professional confidence and disclosure.

Recent years have seen the introduction of three major pieces of legislation conferring on patients a right to access to their medical records: the Data Protection Act 1984, the Access to Medical Records Act 1988 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990. This legislation, coupled with increasing patient awareness of their legal rights makes an understanding of the subject necessary. This book sets out to meet this need by providing hospital managers, doctors and other health care professionals with a practical guide to the relevant law. For easy reference it is divided into three parts: patient access; access and litigation; and professional confidence and third party access.

Computerized records
non-computerized records
access to medical reports
access with a view to legal proceedings
access during legal proceedings
professional guidance and disclosure.