Preparing for your appointment

Checklist: what to bring

• Any imaging, X-ray, MRI, CT or ultrasound, ideally on disc or via a secure link
• The written report that came with each scan
• Operation notes, if you have had surgery
• Clinic letters from any consultant you have seen about this problem
• Discharge summaries, if you have been an inpatient
• A note of medication tried, including injections, and how well it helped
• Physiotherapy notes or a summary of what has been tried
• A rough timeline: when symptoms started, and what has changed since

You do not need everything on this list to come. Bring what you have; Professor Lee will tell you if anything else would be useful.

Requesting your records

If you do not already have your scans or letters, you can ask the hospital or trust that holds them for copies. This is called a subject access request. The Information Commissioner’s Office explains the basics: “Anyone can make a SAR,” you can do it yourself without professional help, and organisations usually have one month to respond. You do not need to give a reason.

Include your full name, date of birth, current address, and be as specific as you can about what you want, for example “my knee MRI from [hospital], [approximate date]”. Ask for imaging to be provided on disc, or via a secure download link if the department offers one, along with the written radiology report, since the report alone is not enough for a proper review.

Each hospital trust has its own health records or subject access request team. Locally:

• United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: see the Trust’s access to health records page for the request form and current contact details. Most requests need two forms of ID: one photo ID and one proof of address.
• Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust: see the Trust’s subject access request information page for how to apply and what identification is needed.
• For any other hospital or trust, search “[trust name] subject access request” or “[trust name] health records”, or ask the department that treated you directly.

Full guidance on your rights, what a request should include and what a trust can and cannot charge is on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

If you are missing something

Requests can take time, particularly if a trust is busy, and some trusts report requests taking longer than the standard month at present. If your appointment is coming up before your records arrive, come anyway with whatever you have; a useful opinion is still possible from your history, any imaging you do have, and a clinical examination.