No. A patient's record should be complete and accurate to ensure they receive appropriate care. Patients can question the content of their records, but not on the basis that it is upsetting or that they disagree with a medical opinion.
Factual errors can be corrected but it must be immediately obvious what has been changed, who made the amendment and the time and date it was changed.
Patient do have a right of rectification under data protection law. But information that was provided at the time (for example, a detail in the patient's history they later wish they hadn't told you), and information that turned out to be inaccurate (such as a working diagnosis that was later changed) should be kept, because it was accurate at the time the note was made.
Read our article on patients requesting to amend their records in the MDU journal.
This page was correct at publication on 30/01/2025. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.