What is Proxy Access?
A GP surgery can give someone proxy access so they can help another person manage their GP health and care.
A proxy may be able to act for the person they support, by:
- Ordering repeat prescriptions
- Booking appointments
- Contacting the surgery or speaking to surgery staff
- Viewing test results or vaccinations
- Accessing all or part of the GP health record, to help with health-related tasks and managing health issues
Reasons for proxy access
Reasons for wanting or needing help could include:
- Having a physical or mental health condition
- Technical barriers, for example not having a computer or a smartphone
- Language barriers, for example if it’s not easy to access services in English
- Practical reasons, for example working shifts or unsocial hours
- Age, for example a child may need a parent to manage their GP services
- If you’re aged 16 or over, you can ask for someone to be your proxy for any reason. It does not stop you having access to your GP services yourself.
If you help someone else with prescriptions, booking appointments or managing their health and care, getting proxy access could make it easier and more convenient.
Parent and guardian proxy access for children under 16
How to get parent and guardian proxy access:
If you care for a child aged under 16, and you have legal parental responsibility for them, you can usually get proxy access by asking the GP surgery to set this up. You need to fill in a form.
Before giving you access, the GP surgery needs to check:
- ID for you and the child, for example passports
- documents that help to prove you have parental responsibility, for example a birth certificate
- with anyone else that shares parental responsibility with you
- for safeguarding issues
- that the child consents to your access (agrees to it) or lacks capacity to consent, If they are aged 11 or over.
You do not have to live at the same address as the child to have access.
You can have proxy access for more than 1 child, and a child can have more than 1 proxy acting on their behalf.
Children’s rights, capacity and consent
Children have the same legal rights over their data as adults. The GP surgery must get the child’s consent before giving access to their online GP services, if the child is able to understand and make an informed decision. This is called having capacity.
Children aged 11 or over are usually considered to have the capacity to consent, or refuse access, unless for example they have a medical condition or learning disability that affects their understanding.
When your online access will stop
Parent and guardian access usually ends when a child is 16. If your child wants or needs you to help manage their GP services when they are 16 or over, your GP surgery can set it up again.
Most GP surgeries also have an automatic cut-off age between 11 and 14, where online parent and guardian access is stopped to protect an older child’s confidentiality.
If your access stops, you can ask your GP surgery to restore it.
Your GP surgery will usually check the child agrees to your access (consents) first.
You can tell your GP surgery in advance, if you think your child will not be able to understand what it means to give you access to their online GP services (called lacking capacity).
When your online access ends, you will still be able to manage your child’s health and care at the GP surgery in the same way you do now.
Information for adults who want help with GP services
Getting a proxy to act on your behalf:
If you are aged 16 or over, you can ask someone you trust if they will agree to be your proxy and help you manage your GP services. This does not stop you having access to your GP services yourself.
Important
Your GP health record may contain sensitive information. If someone is pressuring you for this information, contact your surgery immediately.
How proxy access can help you
Having a trusted person to act for you, in a secure way, can give you the convenience of online services even if you cannot use them yourself.
It can relieve the pressure of dealing with long term conditions, or keeping track of your medical care at times when you are feeling too unwell to manage it yourself.
Arranging access with your GP surgery is much more secure than sharing your own NHS login or GP app or website accounts, because:
- it provides more choice over what you share, protecting the medical information you want to keep private
- the person you choose will have to log in when they access your services online, so what they do on your behalf is recorded and secure
- Choosing levels of access
- You do not have to give your proxy access to view all your medical information online to get the help you need. It’s your choice.
Your GP surgery can set up different types of access, and limits on that access, depending on what you want or need help with.
They can:
- give online access to GP services – you can choose which ones you want your proxy to use for you
- set a date the proxy has access from – so you do not have to share your whole medical history
- stop your proxy seeing specific things in your record that you do not want to share, from the past or once proxy has been set up – tell your GP if there are things you do not want your proxy to see
- agree with you that a proxy can contact or speak to GP surgery staff for you – this is sometimes called “consent to speak” or “consent to discuss”
- Choosing who to act on your behalf
- You can choose a family member, friend or someone else you trust.
You can ask for proxy access for more than 1 person.
Removing access
You can remove access at any time, by telling your GP surgery.
How to find out who has proxy access
If you are not sure who has proxy access to your GP services and health record, ask your GP surgery.
For more information, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/gp-services-for-someone-else-proxy-access/what-is-proxy-access/