Waiting for NHS Records, Chasing IBCA for Answers
People living with infected blood and families pursuing claims for loved ones who have died say they can wait months for NHS records, then find themselves chasing IBCA for news. The Unheard Voice asks what pressure these evidence requests are putting on NHS records teams, whether a dedicated route between the NHS and IBCA could shorten the wait, and why a weekly update and a simple wellbeing check aren’t standard while claims are stalled. Some claim managers already keep in regular touch. Every claimant should know when they’ll hear from IBCA again, even if the records still haven’t arrived.
By Anonymous · Nov 6, 2026
If the family has already handed over the NHS records, what would a fresh request establish that those documents don’t?
Waiting for NHS Records, Chasing IBCA for Answers
A hospital record can help establish when someone was infected, how their illness progressed or what treatment they received. But when that record is still sitting in an archive, people living with infected blood and families pursuing claims for loved ones who have died can find themselves waiting on two fronts. First, they wait for the records. Then they wait to hear what that means for their claim.
Some claimants describe waits stretching into months. For a bereaved family, that can mean reopening a painful chapter and chasing a hospital or GP practice for records they may never have seen. For someone living with the consequences of infection, it can mean another week spent wondering whether anyone has followed up, whether the claim can move forward and when they will hear from IBCA again.
There is already a route for IBCA to request NHS records
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority can request information directly under section 53 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. IBCA says it uses those powers when the information is needed to support a claim and after discussing it with the claimant. NHS England has published guidance telling providers how to respond. ibca.org.uk
The provider’s named contact should respond within seven working days. If the records can be retrieved in that time, they should be sent. Otherwise, the provider should acknowledge the request, explain what it holds and where, and estimate when it can supply the information. Requests should be prioritised where IBCA identifies that a claimant is nearing the end of their life. digital.nhs.uk
How much pressure is this putting on the NHS?
Historic evidence can sit across several GP practices, hospital trusts and archives. IBCA’s own guidance for estates recognises that some records are no longer available. A single claim can involve more than one provider. www.ibca.org.uk
IBCA’s direct requests and claimants’ own subject access requests follow different rules. The Information Commissioner’s Office says a subject access request normally carries a one-month response deadline, with up to two extra months in certain circumstances. The organisation must explain an extension within the first month. Requests for a deceased person’s health records follow a separate legal route. ico.org.uk
IBCA and NHS England should publish the figures that would show the scale of the problem. How many requests is IBCA sending to GP practices and hospital trusts? How often do providers respond within seven working days, and how long does it take for the evidence itself to arrive? When IBCA and a family both approach the same provider, are staff being asked to search for the same records twice?
Why ask the NHS for records the family has already supplied?
Some families have already spent months getting records from hospitals and GP practices. IBCA’s own guidance says families can submit clinical notes, test results, discharge records and correspondence from doctors. If the family has already handed over the NHS records, what would a fresh request establish that those documents don’t? www.ibca.org.uk
There may be a specific gap. A hospital letter might confirm a diagnosis without showing when the infection occurred. In that case, IBCA should explain what the records already establish, identify the gap and ask the NHS for the evidence that could fill it.
IBCA says it set up a specialist team after healthcare providers reported that requests arriving from different staff and through different channels were slowing some claims down. Before sending another request, that team should check what IBCA already holds. If a second request is necessary, the claimant should be told what it is for and which parts of the claim can move forward in the meantime. ibca.org.uk
What happens if the NHS doesn’t reply?
If seven working days pass without a reply, or a provider misses its own estimated delivery date, who at IBCA follows up? When does the request get escalated, and when is the claimant told what will happen next? The published NHS guidance sets out the initial response timeframe. It leaves those next steps unclear. digital.nhs.uk
An unanswered request leaves IBCA with two questions. Can the records still be found, and what can the evidence already on file establish? If the records cannot be obtained after reasonable enquiries, IBCA should tell the claimant what it tried, which fact it still needs to establish and what other evidence it will consider.
Where the balance of probabilities applies, IBCA should explain whether the evidence taken together makes that fact more likely than not. The provider’s silence tells IBCA that the request went unanswered. Evidence from other sources may still establish the fact in question. IBCA has published a specific policy for certain deceased HIV and hepatitis C co-infection claims. In cases that meet its conditions, haemophilia database entries or treatment records can support a finding of hepatitis C co-infection without a direct diagnosis record. ibca.org.uk
A claimant cannot answer for an NHS organisation that fails to reply. They deserve to know what IBCA did to get the records and how it weighed the evidence it had before reaching a decision.
Why are claimants having to chase for updates?
Some claim managers already keep in regular contact. Other claimants say they have to chase for news. An individual claim manager may have little control over how quickly an archive retrieves a file. IBCA can set a consistent standard for what happens while everyone waits.
That should mean offering a weekly update through the claimant’s preferred channel while a claim is stalled. A short message can confirm what IBCA is waiting for, when it last chased, whether the claimant needs to do anything and when they will hear again. There should also be room for a simple wellbeing check and, where someone says they are struggling, a clear offer of support.
If IBCA is still waiting for records, the claimant should know who will update them, when they’ll hear again and what IBCA is doing to move their claim forward. They shouldn’t have to chase for that information.
Pull quotes If the family has already handed over the NHS records, what would a fresh request establish that those documents don’t?
A claimant cannot answer for an NHS organisation that fails to reply.
If IBCA is still waiting for records, the claimant should know who will update them, when they’ll hear again and what IBCA is doing to move their claim forward.