Background

When you are young, your parents are usually involved in your health care. They may make decisions for you, and speak to health workers on your behalf. But as you get older you have more rights. You can decide if you want your parents to be involved or not. This page explains your rights once you are thought to be old enough to make your own decisions about your health care information.

Patients under the age of 16 should normally be accompanied by an adult when seeing a doctor or collecting medicines. However, under certain circumstances, patients below this age may be seen by a doctor, for example, if parents know that the child is at the surgery.

Young people may also see a Doctor without parental knowledge to discuss personal matters including; sexual health matters, contraception, pregnancy, drugs & alcohol and feeling down.

Sometimes, health workers will need to share information about you to give good care. For example, with other health workers at another hospital or clinic if you have agreed to go there. This helps to make your care safer, easier and faster.

If there are particular things that you don’t want to be shared, tell your health worker. However, if they think you are at risk of serious harm or in danger, they may have to tell another adult about it to be able to help you. But even then, they should tell you they are going to do this and explain who they are going to tell and why.

Sometimes, the law allows the health service to share information about you without you agreeing to it. This would only happen in very serious situations, for example, if you have an illness that puts other people at risk, such as meningitis.

Read more about NHS programmes by clicking this link.

DID YOU KNOW?

Children and young people (CYP) up to 18 years old make up one fifth of the UK’s population.

Getting Help

How do I get a doctor?

If you’re over the age of 13, you can register with a GP by yourself. You can find a list of local GP’s in your area on the NHS website. If they are accepting new patients, and your address is in their practice area, they will ask you to fill in a registration form. Some GP’s also ask to see a proof of identity like a passport or proof of address like a mobile phone bill, but its not essential.

If you are under the age of 13 and don’t want your parents to know, you can still register by yourself but you might be asked some questions to make sure you’re okay.

How do I make an appointment?

You can make an appointment by calling your GP surgery and speaking to the receptionist or going there in person or using the online Receptionist (open week days between 8am and 4pm). The receptionist will always ask you details about what the appointment is for and why. This is to make sure that you see the right person for you. They are bound by confidentiality and will not share it and will never judge.

If you would really rather not tell the receptionist what the appointment is for, just say it’s for something personal, but that may mean you have a slightly longer wait for an appointment as the urgency can’t be triaged by the Doctor. You can also ask to see a male or female doctor if this would make you feel more comfortable.

Can I see a doctor by myself?

Yes. There is no reason why you can’t ask to see the doctor by yourself. They might want to find out why and might try to encourage you to tell you parent or carer. But they should try to understand how you feel if you don’t want to.

What happens if I don’t like my doctor?

Most doctors are great at their job and care about their patients a lot. But, there are times when people either don’t get on with or feel uncomfortable with their doctor. You can always ask to see someone else. You may not be able to do this straight away and might have to wait for another appointment.

Confidentiality

What is confidentiality?

It means keeping information safe and private. The health service keeps all your health information confidential. This includes:

• Anything you say
• Information someone writes about you
• Details of any treatment you have had

You can talk to health workers about anything to do with your health.

Will my parents be given information about me?

Usually, health workers are not allowed to tell your parents anything you have talked to them about, unless you have agreed to this. But the health worker may suggest that you speak to your parents or an adult you trust. A health worker may want to send out information to you. If you don’t want your parents to see this, you can:

• Ask them to post it to a friend’s address
• Say you’ll pick it up
• Ask them not to send anything

What if my parents want to look at my health records?

Your health records include information about your health and any treatment you have had. Your records can be written on paper, held on computer or both. Usually your parents can’t see your online health records, unless you have agreed to this. If there’s something in your health records that you don’t want your parents to see, tell a health worker and we can hide it from online view.

If your doctor doesn’t think you can make decisions about your health care, your parents may be allowed to see your health records without you agreeing to it. But this would only happen if the doctor thought it was best for you.

Can I see my own health records?

Yes. You should be able to see your records in a way that you can understand using the NHS App. Any codes or words you don’t understand should be explained to you. You may want to know about treatment you’ve had, or check that information about you is correct.

It’s your choice whether to look at your health records. To find out more about seeing your records, look at the NHS APP. NHS App and your NHS account – NHS

Who else can see my records?

If your parent or guardian has been given “proxy access” to your online medical records, then the access should be revoked once you reach the age of 13, and you will need to come into the surgery with photo ID if you would like access to Online Services on your own behalf when you are 16.

Similarly, if you have been sharing a mobile phone number or email address, then those details will be attempted to be updated once you are 16 years old. Anytime from 13 years old onwards, if you have your own mobile and email address please inform us and we will update your records.

Sometimes, people who inspect child protection services may ask to look at the records of young people who have been involved with these services. This is to make sure that children are protected from harm. These inspectors must keep your personal information safe and private, unless they think you are in danger.

What if I’m unhappy about how my information has been kept or used?

If you think that what you’ve told a health worker hasn’t been kept private or that something in your health records is wrong, please tell one of the health workers who has been involved in your care, or ask your parent or another adult you trust to do this for you.

If you’re still unhappy, it’s okay to make a complaint. Please write to our practice manager, who will investigate your complaint and guide you through the process.

Contraception

What is contraception?

Contraceptive methods protect against pregnancy. If you use contraception correctly, you can have sex without worrying about getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant.

Most methods of contraception won’t protect you against catching or passing on a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Condoms are the only method that protects against both STIs and pregnancy. Protect your own and your partner’s health by using condoms as well as your chosen method of contraception.

Don’t be put off if the first method you use isn’t quite right for you – you can try another.

Will they tell my parents?

Contraception services are free and confidential, including for people under 16 years old. This means the doctor or nurse won’t tell your parents or anyone else, as long as they believe you’re mature enough to understand the information and decisions involved.

There are strict guidelines for healthcare professionals who work with people under 16. If they believe there’s a risk to your safety and welfare, they may decide to tell your parents.

Where to get free contraception

You can get free contraception and condoms from:

• Some Pharmacies
• GP surgeries – talk to your GP
• Community contraceptive clinics
• Some genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics
• Sexual health clinics – these offer contraceptive and STI testing services
• Some young people’s services

Useful Contacts

Childline

Childline is here to help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through. Whether it’s something big or small, our trained counsellors are here to support you.

Childline is free, confidential and available any time, day or night. You can talk to us:

By calling free on – 0800 1111 or via our confidential email which you can sign up for when you visit their website here.

Papyrus

Papyrus is a charity for the prevention of young suicide, offering confidential support and awareness training. If you are a young person at risk of suicide or are worried about a young person at risk of suicide please contact them.

By calling free on – 0800 068 41 41 or via their confidential email – pat@papyrus-uk.org

During weekdays they are available from 10:00 in the morning until 10:00 in the evening. At weekends and bank holidays they are available from 2:00 in the afternoon until 10:00 in the evening.

Samaritans

The Samaritans provide emotional support for anyone feeling down, experiencing distress or struggling to cope. We’re there for people when they need support, which could be any time of day or night.

People talk to the Samaritans for as long as they like, as many times as they like. They don’t rush, interrupt or push anyone out of the door. The let people lead the conversation at their own pace. There’s no waiting lists, and no assessments.

Samaritans is free, confidential and available any time, day or night. You can talk to the Samaritans:

By calling free on – 116 123 or via our confidential email – jo@samaritans.org

The Mix

The Mix is the UK’s leading support service for young people. They are here to help you take on any challenge you’re facing – from mental health to money, from homelessness to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs. You can talk to us:

By calling free on – 0808 808 4994 or via our Crisis Messenger Text Service – text THEMIX to 85258.

Their help is free and confidential for all young people under 25.