Broken commitments on access to health records
	Updated June 2003. The Department of Health has begun publishing the previously secret papers of a group advising ministers about the fees charged for access to health records and related data protection issues, following a challenge by the Campaign. It has also revised its guidance on access to health records, after the Campaign pointed out that it broke ministerial promises that patients would be able to have their own views about a disputed matter added to their records, and NHS bodies would be urged to deal with requests within 21 days, instead of the 40 day limit set by the Data Protection Act.
	Data Protection Act subject access consultation response    164 kb
	March 2003. The Campaign has published its response to the consultation by the Lord Chancellor's Department on the subject access provisions of the Data Protection Act. It is calling for people to have the right (a) to know when information has been withheld from them under one of the DPA exemptions; (b) to be able to appeal to the Information Tribunal against decisions of the Information Commissioner, and (c) for the DPA exemptions to be made subject to a public interest test.
	Court of Appeal letter    148 kb
	March 2003. The Campaign has supported an application to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal against a county court decision on the right of access to manual files under the Data Protection Act. The court had held that the files in question were not part of a "relevant filing system" and were therefore not covered by the Act. But the judge ruled that even if the files had been covered by the Act, in the exercise of his discretion, he would not have ordered their disclosure in this case, a decision which the Campaign has questioned. (The Court of Appeal has since given leave to appeal.)
	Access to manual health records and the DPA 1998
	This May 2000 letter to the Department of Health explains the Campaign's concerns about the loss of patients' rights as a result of the repeal of most of the Access to Health Records Act 1990 and the incorporation of its provisions into the Data Protection Act 1998.
	NHS Executive's reponse
	Reply to the Campaign's letter concerning patient's rights and the Data Protection Act 1998.
	Your Rights to Personal Files
	The Campaign's guide to rights of access to personal files under the Data Protection Act, the Access to Medical Reports Act and the Open Government codes of practice. Updated to take account of the Data Protection Act 1998.
	Confidentiality Clause in the new Data Protection Bill
	This June 1998 letter to the Home Office outlines the Campaign's concerns that the confidentiality clause in the Data Protection Bill will lead to considerable unnecessary secrecy about the operation of the new legislation.
	Home Office Response
	Reply to the Campaign's letter concerning secrecy and the operation of the new data protection legislation.  (The Data Protection Registrar subsequently said that she found the Campaign's views on this issue "persuasive" and did not agree with the views expressed by the Home Office in this letter.)
	Amendments to the Data Protection Bill
	A series of amendments to the Data Protection Bill were drafted by the Campaign for Freedom of Information and tabled by Richard Shepherd MP at the bill's report stage in the House of Commons on 2 July 1998. The amendments were all debated, but none of them was passed. This briefing explains their purpose.
	Access to personal files and the new EU Data Protection Directive
	A new right of access to manual files will have to be introduced by October 1998 to comply with an EU Directive. In this response to a Home Office consultation document the Campaign sets out some of its views on the Directive. It calls for existing rights of access under the Data Protection Act to be improved and expresses concern that some other rights (eg to see credit, school and medical records) could be weakened if they are consolidated into the proposed new legislation.
	Access to Personal Files and Health & Safety Information
	July 1995. Letter to Roger Freeman MP, the minister for 'open government', about the government's failure to introduce promised legislation on access to personal files held by government departments and to health and safety information.
	"I want to know what's in my medical records"
	A dossier of 13 personal accounts by people who have seen or needed to see their own health records. Issued during the passage of the Access to Health Records Act 1990.