My mum died 19 years ago, my dad 8 years ago. Myself and some of my siblings have wondered from time to time about this question and finally decided to do something about it.
Is it possible to get access to deceased parents' medical records? Where would I even start with this? Is it simply a case of contacting our old family GP? The surgery would have, I assume, their records for most of their adult lives although I have no idea where to begin finding any information from before they were married.
It's not that I feel there is anything in particular I need to know now, more a case of having the information available just in case. My older sister has kids now and also feels strongly about this as when she goes to the doctor with them she is frequently asked things like "did either of your parents ever have this...." and just doesn't know. There are things that I feel it would be useful to know. I remember for example my dad having a device at one stage to monitor his heart but don't know why or what the end conclusions were. I remember my mum having to sometimes wear a support glove on one wrist but don't really know why. I'd also like to know the details of their final illnesses to some extent accruately rather than depending on family hearsay - although neither were hereditary diseases afaik, it'd be better to just know.
Are there are legal issues surrounding this issue and the release of information? The son of the doctor we used to see as kids is now himself a doctor and working (at least up to four or five years ago anyway) in the same surgery and would probably remember us - we ran a shop in the area so were pretty well-known.