The following persons may consult or obtain a copy of a user’s record:
- every person 14 years of age or over who wishes to consult his or her user’s record;
- the parent or tutor of a person under 14 years of age who wishes to consult the person’s user’s record (except in exceptional circumstances);
- an advocate representing a person under 14 years of age who needs to see the person’s user’s record during judicial proceedings;
- the tutor, curator or mandatary of an incapable person, who needs to see the person’s user’s record before making a decision;
- any person who may consent to care for another person and who needs to see the other person’s user’s record, when that other person is unable to give consent.
Access by the user
A user who has received medical care or social services may apply to any health or social services institution to have access to the information contained in the user’s record.
The application may be refused if:
- knowledge of the information in the record may be prejudicial to the applicant’s health; in this case, the institution must state when the applicant will be able to have access;
- the information requested from the user’s record was provided by a third person, who could be identified against his or her wishes if the information is disclosed.
Access to a user’s record without authorization from the user
Access to a user’s record without authorization from the user is possible:
- with a court order;
- for medical research purposes;
- in the situations provided for in the Act respecting health services and social services .
To gain access to or a copy of a user’s record, an application must be sent to:
- the person responsible for access to information and the protection of personal information at the institution concerned;
- the executive director of the institution;
- the person responsible for access to information and the protection of personal information at the health and social services agency for the region concerned.
Note
An information document, called How to Make a Request for Access or Rectification to a Public Body , is available on the website of the Commission d’accès à l’information to help people apply for access to the personal information held by a public body.
Access to a user’s record is provided free of charge.
Fees may be charged by the health or social services institution to cover the cost of transcribing, forwarding or copying the information. However, the applicant must be informed of the approximate cost in advance.
The institution must respond to an application within 20 days.
However, this period may be extended by up to 10 days if the institution considers that it would be impossible to respond to the application within 20 days without upsetting its normal routine. In this case, it must inform the applicant in writing of the situation within 20 days from the date of the original application.
Note
The lack of a response after 20 days is deemed to be a refusal to provide access.
