About your health record
We collect and securely store information about your health to support your care and other health service activities allowed by law.
Health records may include:
- diagnosis and treatments
- test results, x-rays and scans
- surgical, nursing and allied health notes
- reports and letters from doctors and specialists
- information about any research studies you participate in.
Every time you visit one of our health facilities, we make sure your personal details are up-to-date. If you’re not a current inpatient or outpatient and need to update your details, contact the admissions team at the facility you visited.
How to access your health record
Metro South Health holds and manages your health records. You have the right to request access to your personal information under the law. Learn more on our Right to information page.
You can contact our Information Access Units or your health care team to ask how to access your records. We'll need to check your identity before giving you access to your health information. The documents you need to provide will depend on how you apply and how we can verify your identity.
You may be asked to provide certified copies of your identification, such as:
- passport
- birth certificate or birth registry extract
- driver's licence
- for a person in custody, a copy of their identity card, certified by a corrective services officer.
Certified copies must be certified by a Justice of the Peace, lawyer, Commissioner for Declarations, pharmacist or notary public as a true and correct copy.
If you don't have these documents, contact our Information Access Units to discuss other acceptable ways to verify your identity. Formal applications under the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) may have specific identity evidence requirements.
If we can't process your request directly, we'll explain how to apply under the RTI Act or discuss ways you may be able to access your records.
You can also ask for inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete or misleading personal information to be corrected. Depending on the circumstances, this may be managed administratively or through a formal amendment application under the RTI Act.
Learn more about amending or accessing your health record on the Queensland Health website.
Who can see your health records
Authorised Queensland Health staff may access your health information when required for your care or another lawful purpose.
Health professionals outside Queensland Health who are caring for you may also be able to see some of your public hospital information through The Viewer using the Health Provider Portal. They must meet certain requirements before they can access this information.
Depending on availability, information visible through The Viewer may include:
- test results
- medication information
- outpatient letters
- operation reports
- pathology reports
- discharge summaries
- medical imaging reports.
You can choose not to allow health care professionals outside Queensland Health to access your information through The Viewer. Queensland Health staff can still access your records for authorised purposes, and your information may still be shared in other ways allowed by law.
Learn more about The Viewer on the Queensland Health website.
Accessing information through My Health Record
You may be able to view some of your health information through your Australian Government My Health Record via myGov. My Health Record may not contain your complete Metro South Health record.
Visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website for information about My Health Record.
How to access other people’s health records
To request another person's health records, such as a family member, you generally need their valid consent or another lawful authority. We may ask for evidence of your identity and your authority to act for them. For example, you may need to provide an Enduring Power of Attorney, guardianship document or other evidence of legal authority relevant to the request.
If you're a parent applying for your child's personal information, you'll need to provide evidence of your relationship with your child and evidence of your child's identity.
If you're acting on behalf of someone else, such as a lawyer acting for a patient, you may need to provide evidence that you're authorised to act for them.
Written consent should clearly identify the person giving consent, the information to be released and the person authorised to receive it.
If you don't have consent or other lawful authority, you may apply for documents under the Right to Information Act 2009. Access is not automatic and may be refused or limited to protect privacy, confidentiality or other interests under the Act.
To request access to someone else's health records, talk to your health care team or contact our Information Access Units at Metro South Health.
Privacy and confidentiality
Authorised staff may access, use or share your health information for your care and other purposes allowed by law. This may include health services, administration, public health and legal requirements. Other government agencies or organisations may also receive your information when allowed or required by law.
Metro South Health takes steps to protect your privacy and the confidentiality and security of your personal information. We handle personal information in accordance with the Queensland Privacy Principles (QPPs) in the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act) and the confidentiality requirements of the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, where applicable.
If you have concerns about your privacy, the confidentiality of your health information, or wish to make a privacy complaint, please contact our Information Access Units. You can also find out more about privacy and how to make a complaint on our Your privacy page.
More information
Read more about health records and privacy, including access to information, on the Queensland Health website.
For formal access and amendment applications, visit the Right to Information website.