Accessing your information via the My Health Record

Metro North Health uploads information to your My Health Record where you have had a record created and you have not told us you do not wish to have your information uploaded. This information includes pathology test results, medical imaging reports and discharge summaries. These documents are generally available for you to see 7 days after the documents are uploaded.

The My Health Record is a Commonwealth government initiative. There is information on how to access or create a My Health Record available.

Applying for your own personal health records

You have the right to apply for access to information held in your health records under the Administrative Access Scheme.  To apply for access complete  the administrative access form and email or post the form, with evidence of identification, to an Information Access Unit.

Note: If you are having difficulty viewing the administrative access form you can use our non-interactive version of the administrative access form or Right click > Save as and view in Adobe reader.

When seeking access to your health information, you will need to provide evidence of your identity, such as:

• passport
• copy of a certificate or extract from a register of births
• motor vehicle, personal watercraft, recreational marine drivers’ licence
• proof of age card
• a statutory declaration from an individual who has known the person for at least one year, or
• if the person is a prisoner within the meaning of the Corrective Services Act 2006, a copy of the person’s identity card from the Department administering that Act that is certified by a corrective services officer within the meaning of that Act.

A copy of one of the above-mentioned documents (apart from a prisoner identity card), where the copy has been certified as a ‘true copy’ by a qualified witness (that is, a lawyer or notary public, a Commissioner for Declarations or a Justice of the Peace, pharmacist or correctional officer in the case of a prisoner identity card) will be accepted, as long as the original certified copy or a colour copy of the original certified copy is provided.

Specific details on the requirements for evidence of identity, as well as evidence of authorisation where an application is made by an agent on an applicant’s behalf can be found on the Access to Health Records Information Sheet.

If you don’t have any of the listed documents, talk to an information access officer about other accepted evidence of identity documents.

View our Queensland Privacy Principles (QPP) Privacy Plan for more information on how Metro North Health manages your personal information.

Amending information in your health record

If some of your personal information is inaccurate, misleading, out-of-date or incomplete you may request for the information to be amended.

Sometimes we may be able to informally amend your information without a formal application. This may include where you have changed your contact details or name.

If you are seeking to amend information that is more substantial, is not recent, or we have not agreed to informally amend your personal information, you may make a Right to Information Amendment Application.

You will need to provide evidence of your identity before your application can be considered. Please refer to the Access to Health Records Information Sheet for information on acceptable evidence of identity documents.

Fees and charges

There is no application fee for the processing of Administrative Access applications, however there may be access charges depending on the format of the documents to be released. There is no charge for amendment of your personal information.

Processing timeframes

Applications under the Administrative Access Scheme are generally finalised within 20 business days. This timeframe may change where we refer your application for processing under the Right to Information Act or there are other factors that impact on the processing of the application.

When we can’t process your application under the Administrative Access Scheme

Sometimes we may not be able to process your application under the Administrative Access Scheme. This scheme is only for access to your personal health record. Some examples of applications we do not process under the scheme include:

• where you are seeking access to your child’s information
• where you are seeking access to another person’s health record (where you do not have authority to act on their behalf)
• where the information you are seeking does not form part of your health record, e.g. audit or incident reports
• where the person whose records you are seeking is deceased
• where some of the information in your record cannot be released due to other privacy or confidentiality factors.

If your application cannot be processed under administrative access, it will generally be referred for processing under the Right to Information Act 2009.

You may also choose to apply directly under the Right to Information Act.

Health Provider Portal

Queensland Eligible Health Practitioners (HPs) can apply for secure online access to patient healthcare information from Queensland’s public hospitals. Eligible Health Practitioners can include General Practitioners (GPs), Specialists, Nurses, Midwives, Paramedics and Pharmacists.

This access bridges the information gap between Queensland HPs and public hospitals to help ensure patients receive consistent, timely and better coordinated care.

HPs access this information through the Health Provider Portal (HPP).

If you prefer that your treating health practitioners did not have online access to your public healthcare information, you have the right to opt-out. You can do this by calling 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

Read more about the Health Provider Portal.