SUSTAIN PROJECT

Independent guide to medical records and patient rights.

Explain my letter

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Understand your medical records in plain language

Abbreviations, medical terms and lab values explained clearly. Free, independent, and nothing leaves your browser.

For example: "SOB on exertion, o/e NAD. FBC, U&E and CRP sent. Paracetamol prn."

Go to lab value tables

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored. General information, not medical advice.

This tool needs JavaScript. Without it, you can look terms up in the A-Z glossary.

  • Decode abbreviations

    From SOB to PRN: what the shorthand in clinic letters means, with a source for every entry.

  • Lab values

    What each blood test measures and the units it is reported in. No judgement of your results.

  • Request your records

    A ready-to-send Article 15 GDPR letter. Your first copy is free of charge.

Guides

  • How to read a discharge summary

    The usual sections of a hospital discharge summary, the abbreviations you will meet (Hx, Dx, o/e, NAD, TTO) and how a German Arztbrief is built, in plain English.

All guides »

Your rights in the EU

You have a right to a copy of your health data. How many people actually use their records online varies widely: in 2024, 27.7% of people aged 16-74 in the EU accessed their health records online, 73.6% in Finland and 5.1% in Germany. (Source: Eurostat, isoc_ci_ac_i, indicator I_IUAPR).

How this site works

A doctor in a white coat typing notes on a computer at her desk
Photo: Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
  • Every statement has a source, preferably a primary one such as EUR-Lex, Eurostat or an official health portal.
  • AI is used as a tool for outlines, translation and proofreading. A person checks facts and wording before publication.
  • We do not assess personal results and do not recommend treatments.
  • Every page shows when it was last updated. Corrections are made openly.
Last updated

Editorial policy and corrections

About this domain

This domain used to belong to SUSTAINS, an EU project that worked on giving patients online access to their health records. We summarise what the project published in an archive page. Go to the archive