Inquiries, reviews, investigations and court orders in health and social care services

Health and care organisations record information as part of their work and the services they deliver to people.

There are occasions where these records are requested by:

• statutory public inquiries, for example the UK COVID-19 inquiry
• non-statutory public inquiries, investigations and reviews of health and care, for example into the safety or quality of services at a specific hospital or in relation to a type of service across the country
• courts

There may be times when public inquiries, reviews, investigations or law courts ask to see the health and care information that is held about you by those caring for you (or who have cared for you), for example, your GP practice or hospital clinic. These requests for information are made so that past decisions and events can be examined, and to help make improvements for people seeking care in the future.

Whenever possible, anonymous data, which is data that does not identify you, will be shared instead of information which identifies you as an individual. Confidential information will only be shared if your health and care organisation decide it is necessary and lawful to do so.

Some public inquiries are statutory this means that the inquiry team has legal powers to obtain confidential information. For example, it is important that information is shared so that lessons are learnt from the UK’s response to COVID-19 to ensure we are better prepared in the event of another pandemic.

For non-statutory public inquiries, reviews and investigations, the information can only be requested. However, where the information is needed to keep people safe from serious harm or death, your health and care organisation will always share it. For example, in the case of the Independent Review of Maternity Services at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, it was necessary to share confidential information for the review to properly investigate serious complications and deaths resulting from maternity care.

You can check the privacy notice of the organisations caring for you to find out how your information is used.

You can object to your information being shared if it has been requested by a non-statutory public inquiry, review or investigation. You will need to give specific reasons for your objection. Your health and care organisation will need to consider your objection and they will decide whether to comply with it. You will not be able to object to requests issued by statutory public inquiries because of their importance to the wider public. You will also not be able to object if information is requested by a court.