© Hastings & Rother Healthcare 2026
Your healthcare record is a secure file that contains important information about your health. This includes things like appointments, medications, test results and information about any treatment you receive.
As a young person, your parent or guardian may be able to see parts of your healthcare record online. This is known as having ‘proxy access’ As you get older, you have more rights over your own healthcare record.
If you are aged 11 to 15 and would like your parent or guardian to continue having online access to your healthcare record, you can ask your GP practice about proxy access.
Before proxy access is given, a healthcare professional may need to speak with you to make sure you understand what proxy access means and what information your parent or guardian would be able to see. This is known as Gillick Competence. Being Gillick Competent means that a healthcare professional believes you have enough understanding and maturity to make decisions about your own healthcare information.
If a healthcare professional believes that you do not yet understand enough to make a decision about proxy access, or if there are concerns that giving someone access could put you at risk, they may decide not to allow this access. In these situations, healthcare professionals will make a decision based on what is in your best interests.
The healthcare professional may ask for a way to contact you directly, such as your own mobile phone number or email address, and will record this on your medical record. This allows us to contact you about your online access and ensure that your wishes are respected. You can also tell us if you would prefer your parent or guardian’s contact details to remain as the main contact details on your record.
On your 11th birthday, your parent/guardians online access to your health record will stop automatically. This is because you have the right to privacy. Some young people may want to talk to a doctor, nurse or healthcare professional without sharing with their parent or guardian. Appointment reminder text messages sent to a parent/guardians phone may also stop at this time.
Yes. Stopping online access does not stop your parent or guardian from supporting you with your healthcare.
If you are aged 11 to 15 and you are happy for your parent or guardian to have online access, you can ask your GP practice about giving permission for this. You can also change your mind and remove this permission at any time.
On your 16th birthday, any proxy access will be removed. From this age, you are responsible for managing access to your own health record.
As you get older, you become more involved in decisions about your healthcare. We want to help young people learn how to manage their own healthcare, while still receiving support from parents or guardians.
Yes. Removing proxy access does not stop your parent or guardian from supporting you or attending appointments if you would like them to.
If you are aged 11 to 15 and understand what proxy access means, you can ask your GP practice about giving permission for a parent to have access to your online record.
The practice may need to speak with your first to make sure you understand what information would be shared and what giving permission means
Yes. If you have given permission for proxy access, you can ask for it to be removed at any time. We will ask for your phone number, email address so that we can contact you annually until your 16th birthday to check you are still happy with this your proxy having access.
Healthcare professionals will respect your privacy. If you are able to make decisions about your own healthcare, information about your visit will usually be kept confidential unless there are concerns about your safety or someone else’s safety.
Healthcare professionals will consider whether you understand what it means to make decisions about your healthcare information. This is sometimes called having the ‘capacity’ to make decisions.
Doctors and other healthcare professionals will talk with you to make sure you understand what the decision is about and what it means. If you understand the information and can make an informed choice, you may be able to decide who can access your healthcare record.
The healthcare professionals will consider your individual needs and work with you and your family to make sure you get the right support.
© Hastings & Rother Healthcare 2026
