Your rights after a hospital death
A practical guide for families in Scotland who have lost a relative in hospital and are being stonewalled when they try to find out what happened.
I work in technology governance and data rights. For thirty years my job has been to understand how large organisations hold information, how they decide who gets to see it, and what the law actually requires of them. This guide is that expertise applied to a problem I did not choose.
My mother died in a Scottish hospital. I spent twenty months trying to obtain her records and a straight account of her care. I was passed between departments, asked for documents the law does not require, and told I did not qualify when I did. I learned, slowly and at cost, that families have far more rights than hospitals tend to admit, and that most refusals do not survive contact with the actual legislation.
None of this should have to be learned alone, in grief, while a public body runs down the clock. So I have written down what I worked out. Each guide covers one task in plain words. It is free, and it is built to be used.
Not sure where to start? If you want to know what happened to your relative, begin with how to request their medical records. If you have already been refused, go to what to do when the hospital refuses. If you want to complain about someone, see which regulator handles what.
Last updated: June 2026