Health Records

As you can imagine, health records have the potential to be a great source of information for genealogists. There are not only records of births collated from GPs, hospitals, midwives and clinics, and also those of the superintendent registrar (so the health authority was free to follow up on births which only appear on one list), but also extensive heath visitor records and all manner of hospital records.

NHS Number

The first National Heath Service numbers were issued on September 29th, 1939, as a security device. From that point all registered births (and all immigrants registering with an NHS doctor) were issued with a number, and since 1966, those numbers have been added to the Central Register of birth indexes (note, though, that we all have new NHS numbers now). However, quite frustratingly for genealogists, access to this system is limited to legitimate purposes within the NHS and some critical emergencies.

Health Visitor Records

Health visitors maintain a file on individuals, beginning with a copy of the birth notification. Some add a lot more information about the birth and parents, vaccination records, and even schools attended, addresses lived and more until the age of 25. At that point, however, the file is closed - only a court order can open it.

Hospital Records

It used to be that many hospitals kept their own records (the file room was generally in the basement area). These days, however, things are more centralised, and many older records are being deposited in local authority archive offices. That's a great idea - except for the fact that the records aren't available for public inspection until they're 100 years old!

Adoption

A health visitor record will probably state whether a child has been adopted (although the child's original surname will almost certainly have been erased). If you believe you've been adopted, you might be able to discover the fact by applying to the local Health Trust to have access to the record. Note, though, that this only applies if you're the person in question, so it might be useful if you're just beginning research on your family tree.

The Problem With Health Records

Put quite simply, the problem is access. The need for privacy is both laudable and understandable - you wouldn't want some stranger looking at your records. Even the wait of a century makes sense. However, to a genealogist it creates a great deal of frustration. There's plenty that could be learnt from everything available. Ultimately, unless they relate directly to you, you're going to find health records to be a dead end for investigation. You're much better expending your energy elsewhere.