Audit of administrative access to medical records held in hospital and health services
People want and need to access their medical records for various reasons. In 2023-24, Queensland hospital and health services received over 16,000 requests to access information administratively, nearly all for medical records.
A hospital and health service with good administrative access arrangements should be able to give a person access to most of their medical records quickly and easily, without a formal application.
The Office of the Information Commissioner examined whether two hospital and health services were making the best use of administrative arrangements for access to medical records.
Our audit found that people seeking access to medical records from these two hospital and health services generally receive a good service. However, we identified opportunities for improvement.
The audit identified four key factors for providing a member of the public with timely and effective access to government-held information. The report recommends that all agencies ensure their administrative access arrangements are:
- well-designed – responsive to community needs, with built-in privacy protections
- supported to be efficient and effective by a toolkit of good policies, procedures and practices
- an efficient alternative to formal access applications – quick, easy, cost-effective, thorough and reliable
- part of an agency’s everyday business operations – well-managed, well understood by all staff, monitored to maintain utility and promoted to the community.
