Free guide
Getting your medical records when you live abroad.
You can do all of this yourself. Here is how, with the exact wording that gets a full record rather than a summary. If you would rather we did it, that is the service.
Five rules that get you a full record
- 1
Ask before you leave
Your GP can release your record only while you are registered. Gulf hospital portals close when you leave. A request made before you move is the easiest one you will ever make.
- 2
Ask for the whole thing, by name
Ask for "my records" and many hospitals send a summary. Name the full record, for the whole period, and list what it should include.
- 3
Name the law
Every country we cover gives you a legal right of access. Naming it tells the records office you know what you are owed.
- 4
Write in their language
A request in the holder's language, using their terms, goes to the right desk first time.
- 5
Ask every holder separately
Your GP record holds hospital letters, not hospital notes. Each hospital trust, private clinic and lab is a separate request.
United Kingdom: your GP
Send this to your GP practice by email or through its website. This wording asks for the full record, not the summary the NHS App shows.
Please provide a complete copy of all medical records and personal data you hold about me, covering the entire period for which you hold records, including any records transferred from previous practices, and not limited to information currently visible in the NHS App. Please provide it electronically, as the original PDFs plus an export of any structured clinical record data. Please treat this as a Subject Access Request under UK GDPR.
Free, and due within one month. For a hospital trust, ask for your "health records, including correspondence, test results and imaging reports".
United Kingdom: if you have already left
Once your GP has removed you from their list, your record is held by Primary Care Support England (PCSE) for NHS England. Use the subject access request form on the PCSE website, or write to PCSE, PO Box 350, Darlington DL1 9QN. They state 28 days and reply by secure email.
Spain
Al amparo del artículo 18 de la Ley 41/2002 y del artículo 15 del RGPD, solicito copia completa de mi historia clínica en este centro, de todo el periodo, en formato electrónico (PDF), incluidos informes de pruebas, de imagen y de alta.
Send to the hospital's Servicio de Atención al Paciente. Free, under 30 days. Doctors' personal notes may be held back.
France
En application de l'article L1111-7 du code de la santé publique, je demande la communication de l'intégralité de mon dossier médical, pour toute la période, sous forme de copie numérique (PDF), envoyée à [adresse].
8 days, or 2 months for records over five years old. Copies at cost.
Portugal
Ao abrigo da Lei 12/2005, da Lei 26/2016 e do artigo 15.º do RGPD, solicito cópia integral do meu processo clínico, de todo o período em que existam registos, em formato digital (PDF), incluindo relatórios de exames e de imagem.
Free, one month at most.
Thailand
A complete copy of my medical record at [hospital], HN [number], for every visit from [date] to [date]: doctors' notes, nursing notes, test and imaging reports, operation notes, discharge summaries and prescriptions, as PDF, under my right of access in Section 30 of the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562.
Your HN (hospital number) is on any receipt. Without the list, many hospitals send a summary.
Indonesia
Saya memohon salinan lengkap isi rekam medis saya (bukan hanya resume medis) untuk semua kunjungan dari [tanggal] sampai [tanggal], sesuai Pasal 26 Permenkes 24/2022, dalam bentuk PDF.
This asks for the full record, not only the medical summary (resume) hospitals send by default.
When it arrives
- Keep the file exactly as it came. It is your original.
- Expect one long scan holding many documents. Split it, and name each part by date and what it is.
- Check it covers the whole period. If years are missing, ask again, naming them.
- Keep a note of who you asked, when, and what came back.