MDU advice

It can be complicated for clinicians to know how to proceed when asked to disclose parts of a deceased patient's records. Responding appropriately to these requests is governed by both legislation and GMC guidance.

Legal considerations

The first point to highlight is that data protection legislation doesn't apply to deceased individuals, and therefore the correct legislation to consider is the Access to Health Records Act 1990 for England, Scotland and Wales, or the Access to Health Records (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 in Northern Ireland.

Under this legislation, after a person has died, their personal representative, executor or administrator, or anyone having a claim resulting from the death, has the right to apply for access to health records for the deceased made after 1 November 1991.

If the deceased person had indicated they didn't want information to be disclosed, or the record contains information that the deceased person expected to remain confidential, then this should be respected. The record holder also has the right to deny or restrict access if it's felt that disclosure would cause serious harm to the health of any other person, or contains third party information.

You can read our guide on confidentiality and disclosing information after death for more information on how to deal with requests under this legislation.

Another point to highlight is that case law has clarified one aspect of responding to requests for deceased patients' records. The case of Re AB [2020] EWHC 691 (Fam) confirmed that the personal representative of a deceased patient has a right of access to all the deceased's records, not just those relevant to any claim that might arise from the patient's death.

Ethical considerations of an ECG

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Ethical considerations of an ECG