Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 1, 2026
Who holds the health record in Barbados?
In 2026, Barbados scores 37 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is tied for 109th of 198 countries and territories, and could rank anywhere from 85th to 142nd allowing for scoring error, in the Weak band (25 to 44). Who holds the keys: doctors, hospitals and insurers. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026.
Doctors, hospitals and insurers decide. No right is above the typical country. The closest is getting your full record (45 out of 100, against 40 to 45 for the typical country). The furthest behind is protection from sale and ads (40 out of 100, against 45 for the typical country).
Barbados has a GDPR-style privacy law, but health is not legally sensitive, the main hospital charges $375 per record copy, and no portal is live.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 1, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Weak band, 25 to 44
37/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 85th to 142nd, allowing for scoring error
Low confidence. Thin evidence on 5 of the 8 rights: your copy, who sees it, sale and ads, doctors see it and AI rules. The evidence grade rates all our sources together; confidence looks at each right. Neither changes the score.
Questions people ask
Can I see my health record in Barbados?
In 2026, getting your full record scores 45 out of 100 in Barbados; the typical country scores 40 to 45. The Data Protection Act 2019 promises a free copy within one month, in electronic form if asked electronically. In practice the Queen Elizabeth Hospital lists a $375 fee for a copy of its records, and its promised patient app was not yet live. Source: privacylaws.com, 2019, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Barbados?
In 2026, doctors, hospitals and insurers hold the keys to your health record in Barbados. Control over who sees it scores 30 out of 100 in Barbados; the typical country scores 30. Health data is not on the Act's sensitive list, and even sensitive data may be processed for care or public functions without consent. No opt-out from record sharing and no patient-visible access log were found as the hospital moves to one digital system. Source: privacylaws.com, 2019, and the other sources below.
How does Barbados compare?
In 2026, Barbados scores 37 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with Jamaica (37 out of 100), Bahamas (39 out of 100) and Chile (39 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with Jamaica, Bahamas, Chile and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
45
40 · 45 · 45
Control over who sees it20%
30
30 · 35 · 35
Privacy and security15%
44
48 · 45 · 40
One record across your care15%
35
30 · 35 · 38
Protection from sale and ads10%
40
50 · 40 · 42
Doctors see it when treating you10%
30
30 · 30 · 35
Your say over research use5%
43
46 · 46 · 50
Rules for AI in your care5%
28
25 · 25 · 30
Black dot: Barbados. Hollow dots: Jamaica, Bahamas, Chile (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Overall: Barbados 37 out of 100. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Barbados need to change to score higher?
Barbados sits in Weak (25 to 44); Mixed starts at 45. Its two weakest rights, compared with the typical country and weighted by how much each counts, are protection from sale and ads (40 out of 100, against 45 for the typical country) and one record across your care (35 out of 100, against 38 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Protection from sale and ads: Clear limits on selling health data or using it for ads, covering apps and data brokers as well as doctors and hospitals.
One record across your care: Family doctors, hospitals, labs, pharmacies, insurers and public health all linked to one record that is used across the country.
Which laws give health record rights in Barbados?
Data Protection Act, 2019-29: Free copy within one month, 72-hour breach notice; health is not listed as sensitive data.
Barbados Medical Products Act, 2026 (passed as a bill; commencement not verified): Creates a Medical Products Authority, device rules, ethics clearance and a register of clinical trials.
Health Services Act, Cap. 44 (1969): Health ministry's public health powers; regulations cover surveillance and investigation of notifiable diseases.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
24.0 2023
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
41.4 2023
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
57.0% 2023
Record reaches private care?
unknown
Real cases
We found no real cases published in the last two years.
Who to contact in Barbados
Not legal advice. Laws, offices and websites can change, so check with the office itself before you rely on anything here.
For Barbados, we list one official office to contact about your health record, as of :
See your record: ask the records office of your doctor, hospital or clinic
In 2026, Barbados scored 37 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, tied for 109th of 198 countries and territories (could be 85th to 142nd), in the Weak band. Who holds the keys: doctors, hospitals and insurers. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/barbados/
The 17 sources for Barbados
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (3 sources)
“Data Protection Act, 2019-29 (Barbados), full text”
privacylaws.com (law or regulation) · Title in English
Dated 2019 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Control over who sees it; Privacy and security; Protection from sale and ads; Your say over research use; Rules for AI in your care
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/barbados/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
