• If you have a mental health problem you may want to see what information an organisation keeps on file about you (including employers, doctors, hospitals, social services and the police).

• You usually have a legal right to access personal information (sometimes called personal data) held about you by an organisation. This right is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

• There are some situations where an organisation is allowed to withhold your personal information from you (not share it).

• To access your personal information you need to make a request in writing, called a subject access request.  

• As of 25th May 2018 organisations have one calendar month to respond to your subject access request, and they are not usually allowed to charge you a fee for supplying your data. (Before this date the time limit was 40 days, and they could charge you up to £50.)

• If your request is refused or ignored, you should write to the organisation to remind them of their obligations. If they still don't give you what you've asked for, you should complain to the organisation.

• If you don’t receive a satisfactory response to your complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Please note

• This guide only covers accessing personal information from the point of view of a person with a mental health problem.
• This guide applies to England and Wales.
• This guide contains general legal information, not legal advice. We recommend you get advice from a specialist legal adviser or solicitor who will help you with your individual situation and needs. See Useful contacts for more information.
• The legal information in this guide does not apply to children unless specifically stated.

This information was published in May 2018. We will revise it in 2020.