Genealogy Chat

NI numbers are related to work only and all to do with your pay. They hold demographics info but are unlikley to release this information
NHS numbers are of course medical.

NHS numbers changed there format in 1996 to a 10 digit number and are allocated when you register to a GP.
You cannot get any medical records information by knowing this number. It is just an identifier for demographics only and your GP details. Medical records will be stored at any hospital that you may have attended in your life. They are not merged together. After a certain length of time eg. 10 years(this can vary depending on why you have visited the hospital) the medcial records will be destroyed.

Eventually the NHS is moving towards Electronic Patient records where your information will be accessed by a medical professional any where in the country, but this is still a long way off.

Thankyou for all your replys.

Dawn,

When I was trying to confirm my Granddad's DOB I wrote to the Department of Work & Pensions to ask them could my family access information from his State Pension records.

When they wrote back they said that they would only be able to provide information if the deceased's Next-of-Kin wrote to them and provided the persons original death certificate and date of birth.

This didn't really help me because I needed to confirm his DOB anyway.

I'm not sure what type of information they would give other than the DOB, address and pension details.

Hope this helps,
Annette

To be honest I think its unlikely either will be of any help to you. The death is very recent and records will be confidential. Have you bought his death certificate?

Do you just want to trace your family tree?

Ivy.... I like you got my NI number as I was leaving school at 16 years old. I thought you could find out a lot from someones NI number, though agree I don`t think its linked to your National Health number. NI numbers, I believe are an indication to your age/what year you were born, my OH and I are born the same year and we begin with WM......my ex husband was 2 years older and his began WK.

Dawn. You may be able to trace your father through the Dept. of Work and Pensions, who hold records of NI contributions and Pension records, the tax office may also be able to help you as well, as their records are held under NI numbers.
If your father died in a Hospital they may help you with a medical file,


Nicky

My guess is that the two numbers are independent and not cross-checked.

From around 1911, employees could access free medical care through the newly introduced national insurance system, which also built up pension rights. However, the key was being in employment. Wives and children still had to pay for medical care, or rely on charity.

The NHS was introduced in 1948, and provides certain services free. There has only been a single national system of 10 digit numbering for the NHS since 1996 (earlier than that, moving health authorities meant your records had to be forwarded, and possibly renumbered).

Currently NHS numbers are given at birth. I received my NI number at around 14-16 or so, so it was a bit of a surprise to learn that the mislaid CD of child benefit records also noted pre-allocated NI numbers to the under-16s.

I think that immigrants do not get an NI number until they find employment, when their employer applies for a number.

Most of this (aside for the 10 digit NHS, which I found Googling just now) is from memory, so feel free to correct any bits that are wrong or misleading!

Hi Dawn,
I'm anxious to see replies to your question. Hope you get some good ones.

Margaret

Hi all,
My father died in 1980 when i was a child and i have recently found his NI number, what information would i be able to find out about him with this number if any, would i be able to find his medical records etc?