The complainant wrote a letter to a crown health enterprise (CHE) asking for some information to be removed from his medical records. The information was not wrong, but the complainant objected to its presence on the file, suggesting that the CHE did not really need it. The CHE removed the information and filed the complainant's letter in the Patient Affairs office. The complainant asked the CHE to return the letter. The CHE declined on the basis that if anyone queried the alteration to the medical records, the letter requesting the alteration would provide an explanation.

The complainant was dissatisfied with this response and complained to me.

Rule 6 gives people a right of access to personal information about themselves held by a health agency. Section 42 of the Privacy Act sets out the ways in which information may be made available. These include inspecting original documents, or receiving a copy or summary of them. There is no provision requiring original documents to be returned upon request.

For these reasons I formed the opinion that rule 6 does not give a right to the return of original documents and discontinued my investigation.

February 1998

Indexing terms: Access to personal information - Crown Health Enterprise - Return of original documents - Manner in which access may be granted -Privacy Act 1993, s 42 - Health Information Privacy Code 1994, rule 6