Can you get a copy of your medical records in the UAE?

Do you have a right to a copy of your medical file?

Yes. Under federal law, your doctor must give you a detailed medical report on your health condition, and the health facility must give you a copy of your medical file.¹ Anyone who breaks this rule faces a fine of AED 20,000 to AED 1,000,000.¹

The federal patient charter, issued by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), repeats the right to a medical report on your condition and your test results, and to a copy of your medical file. It also gives you the right to itemised bills for every service the facility provided.²

Ask the facility in writing and keep a dated copy of your request. The medical records request tool drafts the letter for you.

Who else can ask for your records?

Your custodian, guardian, trustee or legal agent can ask on your behalf.¹ Emirates Health Services (EHS) takes a medical report request from the patient or their authorised legal guardian.³

Under the federal rules for the national health information system, you may give other people access to your health information, provided they are registered users of that system. You may also ask for access to your information to be stopped or restricted.⁴

If you are asking for someone else, take the document that shows you are their guardian or legal agent.

How long does a facility have to give you your records?

Federal law does not set a deadline. Ask the facility when you will receive the copy. The health authorities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and some government providers, set their own rules.^5,6,7,3,8

EHS takes requests online through UAE PASS for outpatient visits within the last 6 months and inpatient stays within the last two years. For older treatment, you apply at the customer centre of the hospital where you were treated.³ Dubai Health issues reports only to patients who saw a doctor in the specialty within the last 6 months, and asks for your Emirates ID and the specialty or test results you want. Its number is 800 60.⁸

Note the date you asked. If the time in the table passes, chase the facility in writing.

How long must your records be kept?

At least 25 years from the last date of the health procedure.⁹ DHA’s policy repeats the 25 years. It required paper records to be digitised within two years of the policy’s release, after which the paper copy may be destroyed under DHA’s technical requirements.⁶

If a facility tells you your records no longer exist, ask it to say so in writing with the date they were destroyed.

Who can see your records without your consent?

Anyone who handles your information must keep it confidential and use it only for health purposes unless you agree in writing.⁹ The law allows five exceptions:

• your health insurer, or whoever funds your care, checking what it must pay
• scientific and clinical research, without your identity
• public health measures, or protecting your safety or someone in contact with you
• a request from the courts or other competent judicial authorities
• a request from the health authority for monitoring and inspection.⁹

Check any request to share your file against this list before you sign a consent form.

Can a wrong entry in your file be corrected?

Yes, but the original entry stays. Under the federal rules, a wrong or missing entry is corrected or completed while the original is kept, and the reason, the change, the date and the electronic signature of the person who made it are recorded.⁴ In Dubai, DHA’s policy says a request to complete incomplete records must be assessed and answered within 5 working days.⁵

Ask for the correction in writing and ask for a copy of the corrected page.

What happens to your file if you complain about your treatment?

The medical liability committee’s rapporteur requests the original medical file and the documents related to the case.¹⁰

Ask for your own copy when you complain, so you can read what the committee will read. The committee page explains what it decides, and the first steps guide puts the records request in order with the other deadlines.

The small print

The right to a medical report and a copy of the medical file is Article 22 of Federal Law No. 5 of 2019. The fine for breaking it is Article 26.¹ Retention is Article 20(1)(A) and confidentiality with its five exceptions is Article 16 of Federal Law No. 2 of 2019.⁹ Access by people you choose and restriction of access are Article 5(5) and (6) of Cabinet Resolution No. 32 of 2020, and these apply to the federal central system. Corrections are Article 6(7) and (8), which are also conditions for using the central system.⁴ The committee rapporteur’s power to request the original medical file is Article 10(2) of Cabinet Resolution No. 40 of 2019.¹⁰

The Dubai one-month rule for a subject access request is clause 4.6.12 of PP-11.⁵ The 3 working days for stored records is clause 4.11.6, the 25-year retention clause 4.6.1 and digitisation clause 4.6.2 of PP-12.⁶ The Abu Dhabi rule on timely access is item DP-DA-03 of the DoH standard, which also says patients may obtain a copy “except in certain circumstances” without listing them.⁷ The copy of the patient charter on the DHA website is in Arabic.²