Mr. Damien McCallion:

In each hospital, a person is designated responsibility for dealing with such requests. I had some practical experience of this issue in a former role and note that there may be instances where a delay is caused by the nature of the records or their being moved off site or historical. In such instances, the hospital should proactively engage with the patient or representative regarding a timeframe for delivery of the records. If a patient is unhappy regarding access to records, there is an initial escalation within the hospital.