England - children's records

Owned by Federica Andreoni
Last updated: Nov 07, 2023
2 min read

To access this service via the NHS App, patients will need to register for an NHS account:

  • if they are 16 or over and already registered on the NHS App, they will automatically be granted access when the service is switched on

  • if they are below the age of 16 and registered on the NHS App, they will automatically be granted access when they reach the age of 16

  • if they are aged 11 - 16, they can apply to your GP practice for access to your health record, but it will not be granted automatically

  • if they are aged 11 - 13 and your GP practice agrees, their access will be limited to the web version of the app

If a person has access to health and care services on someone else’s behalf, for example, a child or a family member (also known as proxy access), they will still have the same level of access to their account when the change comes into effect. If a person presently has full record access, they will keep full record access. However, if a person only has proxy access for things like ordering medications, they will need to apply to the GP practice in order to see new record entries for the other patient. The GP practice will consider thee request. Once a person is registered for proxy access, they will see a linked profile for their family member in the NHS App.

https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/access-to-patient-records-through-the-nhs-app/ (Updated: August 2023)

Can a practice give access to records to children and young people?

Each practice decides if it wants to offer online services to children and from what age that access should be allowed. 

https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp-online-services/support/faqs/#q4