Can Comments Made in Counselling Be Added to Medical Record?

Originally written by Sarah Clark, updated by the editorial team on 4th April 2026

V.L asks

I've discovered a 'throwaway' comment on a counselling report in my medical records that indicates a serious but entirely non-existent mental illness. In another counselling report, and throughout my 'secondary' notes, there are highly descriptive 'essays' on exactly what I said - sometimes down to the smallest detail, with numerous inaccuracies. I thought I was in an entirely confidential environment when undertaking counselling following family bereavements.

I am absolutely horrified that what I said has been disclosed to a third party and written in my medical records. Had I been given the opportunity to review the documents, I would have immediately pointed out the error. The NHS complaints procedure has been a waste of time and I have a feeling that this will 'go legal', incurring expense that I can ill afford. Do you have any guidance on how I can get these comments removed from my medical records?

You may be able to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about a breach of the Data Protection Act in disclosing sensitive data without your permission; if the counsellor did not tell you he or she would release the information to your GP. You can also ask for the information to be corrected.

Data protection law classes special category personal data as information about one or more of the following:

Your racial or ethnic origin
Political opinions and religious beliefs
Whether you belong to a trade union
Any mental or physical health condition
Your sex life
Whether you have committed a criminal offence
If there are any court proceedings against you.

There are certain circumstances that allow sensitive data to be processed, one of these being that you have given your explicit consent. ‘Processing’ according to the Data Protection Act covers both the recording and the disclosing of information, and so although you would have given the counsellor permission to make notes of what was discussed during your sessions, you did not agree to the information being disclosed to a third party.

You are entitled to object to your information being processed if it’s likely that doing so could cause you harm or distress, and if you feel that you have suffered damages due to any unauthorised disclosure of sensitive information, you could be entitled to compensation. You can’t claim for damages if you have suffered just from distress, unless the data was used in journalism of some kind.

The counsellor may be able to defend their actions if they can prove that they took reasonable care to comply with the Data Protection Act.

Medical Opinion

The Data Protection Act applies differently to a ‘professional opinion’ although the information must still be accurate and up to date. If anything on your record is simply the opinion of the counsellor, the records should state that. It may help to read the ICO information factsheet: http://tinyurl.com

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Rights of Access

You have a right to access any sensitive data held on you – all you need to do is write a letter to the data controller (person you believe holds that information) and ask them to disclose the information that they hold. Make it clear that you are making a subject access request under data protection law. Give as much detail as possible about the information you believe they hold – dates, times, and anything else that will help them to comply. Under current law, they generally cannot charge a fee and must respond within one month.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

The Information Commissioner

You can ask the ICO to make a decision on whether the counsellor breached data protection law, but the ICO cannot make them pay any compensation, even if they find in your favour. You would need to go to court for that – but you would have the ICO decision as evidence.

For advice on whether to take the issue up with the ICO and pursue compensation, call the helpline on: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45 (available from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.)

Correcting Information on Your Records

To have information changed or removed, you need to write to your GP explaining exactly where the information the counsellor has provided is inaccurate, and ask them to change/delete the incorrect parts. Make sure that you keep a copy of the letter. If they haven’t responded to say that they have changed the records within 28 days, you can make a complaint to the ICO under data protection law.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Image and Photo Use Rights Checker (UK) lets you someone has used your photo (or your child's) on a website, social media or marketing and you are not sure what your rights are. Answer a few questions and we will explain the position and what to do. Try it now →

2 questions

Ask Your Privacy a Question

Tina 15/12/2017 at 2:18 pm

The counsellor's professional body will have guidance on what can and cannot be included on the counselling records in order not to break confidentiality , and sharing the notes ( outside of any safeguarding risk) with the GP without client permission is breaking confidentiality - breaching all reputable counselling professional body's ethical guidance. There are also 'rules' around who 'owns' the notes - depending on whether the counsellor is in private practice, belongs to an agency or is attached to the GP surgery or within the NHS- the BACP can help you clarify what those should be depending on your personal situation.

Survivor 09/08/2016 at 9:37 am

My gp says he couldn't find the read code for AIH so he put hepatitis unspecified and and emis no. 5576. Is this common

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