Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement on the NHS webpage 'Can I access someone else's medical records (health records)?' that "children aged 12 or older are usually considered to have the capacity to give or refuse consent to parents requesting access to their health records, unless there is a reason to suggest otherwise".

The Department and NHS England work closely together, in conjunction with a range of stakeholders across the sector, to make sure the National Health Service's position is right for children.

For children aged under 11 years old, parents are presumed to be exercising a child's right to access their records, where the child lacks capacity to exercise it on their own behalf. Children aged 11 years or older are usually considered to have the capacity to give or refuse consent to parents requesting access to their health records, unless there is a good reason to suggest otherwise.

Whilst reasonable efforts should be made to encourage the child to involve parents or guardians, children have the same rights of access and information as adults do. If a child has the capacity to give or withhold consent to the release of their health record information, health professionals should generally respect their wishes. General practice surgeries should have processes in place for determining on a case-by-case basis whether a child is competent to make this decision.