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The short answer is yes. However, it needs only to be at the appropriate time to the appropriate people.

This was the principle set out in the case of Bennett v Compass Group UK & Ireland in 2002. This held that if a Claimant brings a claim she must be prepared to reveal her records to the other side

This case was confirmed in the case of OCS Group Ltd. v Wells  in 2008.

In this case the Claimant injured her back whilst lifting a sack of confidential waste out of a bin during the course of her employment. She alleged a severe injury and claimed loss of earnings.

The pre-action protocol for personal injury claims aims to encourage communication between the parties with better and earlier exchange of information and the fair and early settlement of cases without litigation. The protocol requires medical records to be released to the Claimant's medical expert who will prepare a report which will form the basis of the Claimant's case. However, the medical records only become disclosable to the Defendant once proceedings have been issued and the expert's report has been served.

In the above case, there was a long delay in obtaining a medical report by the Claimant and the Defendant's became frustrated. They made an application to the court for disclosure of the Claimant's medical report and medical records, which was refused on a number of grounds. A medical report unilaterally obtained was privileged and not disclosable. As for the Claimant's medical records, the Judge stated that they were private records under article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and it had not been established that they were relevant at this stage. Moreover the Judge stated that he did not have jurisdiction to make an order in favour of the Defendants under the relevant Civil Procedure Rules.

The Defendants appealed the decision on the basis that the records were relevant and that the Judge was wrong in holding that he did not have jurisdiction. They argued that the medical records would either support the Claimant's case or the Defendants' depending on their contents and so would assist in establishing the injury sustained and the pain and suffering which would impact on any financial loss claimed.

The Judge also considered the relevance of the medical notes in resolving the case early without court proceedings, and the fairness of releasing them. He decided that it was not desirable for medical records to be disclosed before proceedings had started. The Claimant would not know the full details of her medical records, which might contain embarrassing or disturbing information or information which might cause her to withdraw or limit her claim. It may be that the records were of relevance but of no value to the proceedings and would play no part in resolving the matter. If that was the case then private medical notes would have been disclosed without the consent of the patient and for no benefit.  The records should be considered by the Claimant and her expert before the Defendants' solicitors. Until the medical expert considered the medical records it would not be clear what form the claim may take. Enforced disclosure of private material when the claim had not yet been precisely set out might actually increase contention between the parties and make proceedings more likely.

Accordingly, the Claimant is entitled to obtain her medical report and consider it with her advisors first. If, however, the claim proceeds, the records then become relevant and disclosable to the Defendant, his advisors and any medical expert he instructs.