§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 9 October (WA 67), what is the procedure by which individual service and ex-service personnel have access to their personal medical records for the information of their general practitioners; and what steps have been taken to improve the procedure and on what dates. [MoD] [HL5096]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)Under the Data Protection Act 1998, individual service personnel are able to request access to their service medical records by making a subject access request. For access to primary healthcare records, the request should be made by individuals through their local service medical centre. For access to secondary healthcare records, the request may be sent to either the appropriate service records office, the hospital they were treated at, or to the MoD Central Health Records Library. The location of the relevant secondary healthcare record would be recorded in their personal medical folder (Form F Med 4).
On leaving the Armed Forces, personnel are provided with a summary of their medical history (Form F Med 133) to give to their civilian doctor. Release of full military medical records is permitted if an individual makes a subject access request to the appropriate service's records office, as stated on the F Med 133. If an individual wishes to make his or her full military medical records available to other parties, such as civilian healthcare providers, (including their GP), he or she must also give their written consent to release the records.
The F Med 133 form is currently being revised to provide more information to civilian GPs. Increasing use is also being made of electronic Primary care patient records.