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.

Setting up proxy access

In most cases you will need to contact the GP surgery of the person who wants help, to ask for proxy access.

The GP surgery will make sure the person giving access understands and agrees to it, where needed.

You may both have to fill in a form and prove who you are using photo ID.

The GP surgery will then decide what access, if any, is appropriate, and make the changes in their clinical systems to set it up.

Adults who cannot understand and agree to proxy access

Proxy access for another adult is usually given based on them requesting it themselves, or understanding and agreeing to it. Adults aged 16 and over are assumed to be able to understand and consent to their own treatment. This is called having capacity.

If the person you want to help cannot understand or agree to you acting for them, for example because of a condition such as dementia, this is called lacking capacity.

The GP surgery may still be able to give you access. They will make a decision based on what is in the best interests of the person who needs help.

NHS trial to apply for proxy access in the NHS App

Some GP surgeries are trialling a new NHS service which you can use to apply for proxy access in the NHS App.

Both you and the person you're applying about must be registered at the same GP surgery.

If a GP surgery sets you up as a proxy for someone else, you can access services for them online.

If you are both registered at the same GP surgery, you can manage health services for others in the NHS App or by logging in to the NHS website.

If you are registered at different GP surgeries, the surgery setting up access will give you login information for an app or website you can use.

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

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"

You can choose a family member, friend or someone else you trust.

You can ask for proxy access for more than 1 person.

You can remove access at any time, by telling the Reception team at the practice.

If you are not sure who has proxy access to your GP services and health record, ask our Reception team.

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 may need to fill in a form.

Before giving you access, the GP surgery may need 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 13 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 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.  

My child will not have capacity to make an informed decision

If you think your child will not be able to understand what it means to give you access to their online GP services, you can tell your GP surgery.

The GP surgery will give access based on the best interests of the child. This will usually mean having a parent or guardian acting on the child's behalf. 

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.

The Deepings Practice has an automatic cut-off age of 13, where online parent and guardian access is stopped to protect an older child's confidentiality.

If your access stops, you can ask the practice to restore it, we will usually check the child agrees to your access (consents) first.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

From when you turn 13, 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.

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)

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.

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.

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.