Information for under-16s on parents and guardians accessing your doctor's services

Your parent or someone else that looks after you may want to use apps or websites to:

see, book and cancel appointments for you
see and order prescriptions for you when you need medicine
look at your health record online

They can ask your doctors (your GP surgery) to link your NHS profile to theirs, so they can do this for you. This is sometimes called "parent and guardian proxy access", or "third party access".

It lets them manage your health and care for you online while you're growing up, until you're old enough to do it on your own.

Managing your health and care

When you're a baby or a young child, your parents, or someone else who looks after you, need to manage your health and care for you.

This means they:

take you to the doctors
get you medicine or other help if you need it
talk to doctors and nurses about any illnesses or conditions you have

It's their responsibility to make sure they take care of you properly, and get you any medical help you need.

As you get older, you can start to share this responsibility, until you are happy to manage it on your own as an adult.

Online access to your doctor's services

There are apps and websites where adults can see their own medical information, book appointments or ask for medicines (order prescriptions). Lots of people use the NHS App to do this.

Parents or guardians of under-16s can ask the doctors to use the same apps or websites for the children they look after.

Doing these things online is often quicker and easier than having to call the doctor's.

Having access to your GP health record can help keep track of your care and make sure you're being looked after properly.

Your health record

Every time you go to the doctors or a hospital, or get medicine when you're ill, this is recorded on a computer system. This is what's called your medical record, or health record.

It's important that everything is recorded so doctors know what illnesses or treatments you've had in the past.

If your parent or guardian can see your GP health record, it can help them look after you properly. They can make sure you get the medical help you need, when you need it.

How parent and guardian access helps you

For most children and young people, it's best for you to have a parent or guardian help manage your health and care. Giving them access to this information means they can:

deal with your health and care so you do not have to worry
do practical things like getting medicines and organising appointments
make sure you get the best care if you're sick

Allowing a parent or guardian to see your health data

Your rights

The information in your health record is called health data. This is important data about you. It must be kept safe, so only the right people can see it.

There are laws to protect your data. Children have the same rights as adults – you own your data. But until you are 16, your parents or guardians have the right to manage this for you.

When you are old enough to understand what online access is, and who you want to have access, the doctors should ask you before they share your data. This is called getting consent.

When you will be asked for consent

From when you turn 11, doctors may talk to you about who has access to your medical information and whether you're old enough to understand this and make decisions about it.

When you can understand it enough to make an informed decision, you're said to "have capacity".

You do not have to be old enough to look after your health and care on your own. You can still make an informed decision about whether you want your parents or guardians to manage your health and care for you online.

Most young people under 16 want their parents or guardians to manage their health and care, and online access helps them do this.

When you are 16, you are treated the same as an adult, and parent and guardian access stops. The GP surgery must get your consent before sharing your data. You can ask your GP surgery if you want your parents or guardians to have access. They do not have the right to have this in the same way they do when you're a younger child.

What your parents or guardians may be able to see or do for you

Different doctors offer different services. Proxy access can give access to one, some or all of these services.

They may be able to:

look at your appointments, make appointments or cancel them
see your medicines (prescriptions) and order them for you
see your test results and other medical information about any illnesses, conditions and allergies
see letters from doctors, hospitals and other places you go to get care
see what the doctor has written in your record when you go to an appointment (called consultation notes)

Your choices when you're asked for consent

You have the right to say what your parents or guardians can see or do for you. For example, you may want them to be able to get your medicines, but not to see your notes. Or you may not want them to have access at all.

You can talk to the doctor's about what you want your parent or guardian to be able to do and see, when they ask for your consent.

You can have more than 1 person to help you, or choose the parent or guardian you are most comfortable with talking to about your health and wellbeing.

You can decide what each person who has access can do. For example, you might want 2 parents to be able to order your medicines, but only 1 to also see notes from your doctor's appointments.

What to do if you're worried about your parents or guardians seeing something in your medical information

You should always get the medical care and advice you need. Go to the doctors if you are worried about anything to do with your health or wellbeing.

You have the right to confidentiality – this means you can keep things private if you want to.

If you agree to your parent or guardian's access, but you want to see the doctor privately, you can tell your doctors when you make or go to an appointment.

They can hide some parts of your medical information if there is something you do not want your parents or guardians to see.

It's usually best to keep the adults you trust involved in your health and care, so the doctor's may encourage you to share this information. But unless they think you are at serious risk of harm, they have to respect your decisions around privacy.

How to find out who has access

If you have questions about who has access to your medical information, you can ask your doctor's, at an appointment or by calling them.

How to stop access

If you do not want your parent or guardian to have access, you can tell your doctor's. They can switch it off, or change what services they have access to.

Accessing your services yourself

When you are 13, you can get access to your doctor's services yourself, and use the NHS App or other apps and websites. You need to ask your doctors to set this up. They will check you are able to understand your medical information and keep it safe.

Your medical information is very important. You should not share it with anyone who is not your parent or guardian. If you think there is a risk someone might ask you to see this information on an app or website you use, it might be best not to get access.

Getting access yourself does not mean your parent or guardian has to stop their access. You can have access as well.

As you get older, you can take over more of the responsibility of managing your health and care yourself. This helps you prepare for being an adult, when you can manage your appointments, prescriptions and any illnesses or conditions on your own.