The following information is applicable to patients living in England, and being treated in England. No information provided should be taken as formal legal or medical advice.

Under the NHS constitution, patients are entitled to a number of rights, such as the right to choice. Using these rights, you can make more informed decisions and improve your healthcare. Armed with this information, you can use our search tools to find services that best match your needs.

Right to choice

Written into the NHS constitution, patients in England have the right to choose where they are referred for non-urgent treatment.¹ This right is written into the NHS Constitution as the “right to choice”.²

Knowing these rights and when they apply is important, for it can allow you to access better healthcare quicker. This is because while you will often be referred to one of your nearest hospitals, there is significant variation in waiting times and care quality across the NHS. Therefore, by choosing to travel further, you may be able to be seen faster.

Therefore, if you expect to be referred by your GP for treatment, it is important to be aware of your options. For example, if you have booked an appointment to your GP, and suspect you may be referred to an orthopaedic surgeon (e.g. for a knee replacement), you can look up orthopaedic waiting times for hospitals near you. This means if your GP then decides they would like to refer you to a specialist, you have the information you need to exercise your right to choice.

If you are unsure at any point about what options are available to you, you should speak to your GP (or whoever you are being treated by) to discuss your options.

While the right to choice applies to the majority of patients, there are exceptions, such as for the armed forces or when it is not in your medical interests. A more detailed explanation of your right to choice, including more specific information about how to exercise your rights, is available here.

Data

Like all organisations under GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 regulations, the NHS and related healthcare providers have a number of obligations towards your personal data.³ The two primary obligations are: the right to access, and the right to erasure.

The right to access entitles you to access personal data. This means you have the legal right to request copies of your medical notes and records, where a healthcare organisation holds them about you. To make a request for this data from a particular organisation (such as your local hospital or GP), you should contact their patient-facing support team in writing. These requests are often called “subject access requests”.⁴

The right to erasure entitles you to request that any personal data held on you is deleted, where it is reasonable. Therefore, just as the right to access enables you to access your personal data, the right to erasure enables you to erase such data. To make such a request, you should contact the organisation holding you personal data in writing.

Together, the right to access and right to erasure help give you control over how and when your personal data is used. If you believe that your data-related rights are being infringed, you can complain to the Information Commissioner (ico.org.uk), which is the independent authority charged with upholding information-based rights in the UK.

Complaints

If you believe your rights are not being respected, or that you have received inadequate care, you have a number of ways to complain in the NHS. We have a dedicated guide to complaints in the NHS, which can be found here.

Sources:

1. NHS Choice Framework. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework/the-nhs-choice-framework-what-choices-are-available-to-me-in-the-nhs
2. Handbook to the NHS Constitution. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplements-to-the-nhs-constitution-for-england/the-handbook-to-the-nhs-constitution-for-england)
3. NHS England as a data controller. NHS England. Link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/nhs-england-as-a-data-controller/
4. Right of Access. ICO. Link: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/