General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR

The Data Protection Act 1998 and the ethical codes of conduct of all healthcare professionals require that medical data be treated with great respect and confidentiality.

Confidential information held at this practice is shared with members of our healthcare team, as necessary, to ensure the best possible provision of care. All members of our healthcare team are bound by a strict duty of confidentiality.

Sometimes it may be necessary to share confidential data with individuals outside our healthcare team in order to provide you with the best possible care. For example, if the doctor refers you to another health care professional it is necessary to divulge confidential information in order to treat you properly. Information is only disclosed to those who also have a strict duty of confidentiality. Occasionally we are asked to provide information for the purposes of education, Audit or research or for the purposes of health care administration. It may not always be practical to seek your consent to this on every occasion.

In all cases the person to whom such information is released is bound by a duty of confidentiality. The information disclosed is kept to the minimum necessary for the purpose and is anonymised where possible.

If you wish to register any objection to the sharing of confidential information, as outlined above, or would like further information or wish to discuss any issues of confidentiality, please contact our practice manager.

Any objection will be respected except where disclosure of information is essential to protect you or someone else from the risk of death or serious harm. Please put any objection in writing to the practice manager.

The Data Protection Act gives you the right to see your notes or have a copy of them. Please contact our practice manager for advice.

Practice Privacy Notice for Patients

What is a Privacy Notice?

A Privacy Notice (or ‘Fair Processing Notice’) is an explanation of what information the Practice collects on patients, and how it is used. Being transparent and providing clear information to patients about how a Practice uses their personal data is an essential requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Under the DPA, the first principle is to process personal data in a fair and lawful manner, and applies to everything that is done with patient’s personal information. In practice, this means that the Practice must;

have legitimate reasons for the use or collection of personal data
not use the data in a way that may cause adverse effects on the individuals (e.g. improper sharing of their information with 3rd parties)
be transparent about how you the data will be used, and give appropriate privacy notices when collecting their personal data
handle personal data only as reasonably expected to do so
make no unlawful use of the collected data

Fair Processing

Personal data must be processed in a fair manner – the DPA says that information should be treated as being obtained fairly if it is provided by a person who is legally authorised or required to provide it. Fair Processing means that the Practice has to be clear and open with people about how their information is used.

Providing a ‘Privacy Notice’ is a way of stating the Practice’s commitment to being transparent and is a part of fair processing, however you also need to consider the effects of processing on the individuals and patients concerned;

What information are we collecting?
Who collects the data?
How is it collected?
Why do we collect it?
How will we use the data?
Who will we share it with?
What is the effect on the individuals?
If we use it as intended, will it cause individuals to object or comply

Data Controllers

Under the Data Protection Act, the data controller is the person or organisation that will decide the purpose and the manner in which any personal data will be processed – they have overall control of the data they collect, and decide how and why it will be processed.

A GP Practice is a data controller for the patient information it collects, and should already have data processing arrangements with third parties (e.g. IT systems providers) to ensure they do not use or access data unlawfully; the data controllers will have ultimate responsibility for the Practices’ compliance with the DPA.

Risk Stratification

This is a process to identify and manage patients that are more likely to need secondary care – information is collected in order to assess their ‘Risk Score’ and is sent to NHS organisations to assess and return the results to the GP Practice. This is an acceptable way of assessing patients’ needs and prevent ill health, however it is also regarded as a disclosure of personal information, and patients have the option to opt out of any data collection at the Practice, and needs to be made clear to them.

Invoice Validations

If a patient has had NHS treatment, their personal information may be shared within a secure and confidential environment to determine which ICB should pay for the treatment received. This means sharing identifiable information such as name, address, date of treatment etc. to enable the billing process.

Partner Organisations

If the Practice shares information with any external organisations (within or outside the NHS), then let patients know by listing them. Partner organisations will usually include NHS organisations (hospitals, ICBs, NHS England etc.) other public sectors (Education, Police, Fire etc.) and any other Data Processors that may be carrying out specific project work with the Practice (e.g. Diabetes UK).

Access to Personal Information

The DPA gives patients the right to view any information held about them – the ‘Right of Subject Access’. Explain the process and who to contact. You can find your practice registration number by entering your Practice name in the ‘Name’ box here; ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Search

How we use your information

This privacy notice explains why we as a Practice collect information about our patients and how we use that information.

Latchford Medical Centre manages patient information in accordance with existing laws and with guidance from organisations that govern the provision of healthcare in England such as the Department of Health and the General Medical Council.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

Data Protection Act 1998
Human Rights Act 1998
Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
Health and Social Care Act 2012
NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security

As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998. In practice, this means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled clearly and transparently, and in a reasonably expected way.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 changed the way that personal confidential data is processed, therefore it is important that our patients are aware of and understand these changes, and that you have an opportunity to object and know how to do so.

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any NHS treatment or care you have received (e.g. NHS Hospital Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be processed electronically, on paper or a mixture of both; a combination of working practices and technology are used to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records held by this GP practice may include the following information:

Details about you, such as address and next of kin
Any contact the practice has had with you, including appointments (emergency or scheduled), clinic visits, etc.
Notes and reports about your health
Details about treatment and care received
Results of investigations, such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

The practice collects and holds data for the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients and we will ensure that the information is kept confidential. However, we can disclose personal information if:

It is required by law

You provide consent – either implicitly or for the sake of their own care, or explicitly for other purposes
It is justified to be in the public interest

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we hold data centrally, we take strict and secure measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Information may be used for clinical Audit purposes to monitor the quality of service provided, and may be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this we ensure that patient records cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for clinical research purposes – the practice will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare providers with the objective of providing you with better care.

Patients can choose to withdraw their consent to their data being used in this way. When the practice is about to participate in any new data-sharing scheme we will make patients aware by displaying prominent notices in the surgery and on our website at least four weeks before the scheme is due to start. We will also explain clearly what you have to do to ‘opt-out’ of each new scheme.

A patient can object to their personal information being shared with other health care providers but if this limits the treatment that you can receive then the doctor will explain this to you at the time.

Mobile Telephone

If you provide us with your mobile phone number we may use this to send you reminders about any appointments or other health screening information being carried out.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

NHS Trusts
Specialist Trusts
Community Trusts
Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
Private Sector Providers
Voluntary Sector Providers
Ambulance Trusts
Integrated Care Boards
Social Care Services
Local Authorities
Education Services
Fire and Rescue Services
Police
Other ‘data processors’

Access to personal information

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view information the practice holds about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as ‘the right of subject access’. If we do hold information about you we will:

give you a description of it
tell you why we are holding it
tell you who it could be disclosed to
let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form

If you would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please contact the practice manager in writing. There may be a charge for this service. Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and on the practice notice board.

The practice is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. The registration number is Z6681411 and can be viewed online in the public register at ico.org.uk

Change of Details

It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect in order for this to be amended. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information. This information is publicly available on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk. The practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

Who is the Data Controller?

The Data Controller, responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential is Mrs. K Taberner– Practice Manager. Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and displayed in prominent notices in the surgery.

The Partnership is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 Z6681411. Our registration can be viewed on-line in the public register at www.ico.org.uk

Data Protection Officer

Craig Walker – Head of Information Governance and Quality Assurance
St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Alexandra Business Park
Court Building
PRESCOTT Road
St Helens
WA10 3TP

Further information

Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found in:

The NHS Care Record Guarantee: www.nigb.nhs.uk/pubs/nhscrg.pdf
The NHS Constitution: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england
NHS Digital’s Guide to Confidentiality in Health & Social Care gives more information on the rules around information sharing: content.digital.nhs.uk/article/4979/Assuring-information

An independent review of information about patients is shared across the health and care system led by Dame Fiona Caldicott was conducted in 2012. The report, Information: To share or not to share? The Information Governance Review, be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-information-governance-review

NHS England – Better Data, Informed Commissioning, Driving Improved Outcomes: Clinical Data Sets provides further information about the data flowing within the NHS to support commissioning.

Please visit the NHS Digital website for further information about their work. Information about their responsibility for collecting data from across the health and social care system can be found.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the Regulator for the Data Protection Act 1998 and offer independent advice and guidance on the law and personal data, including your rights and how to access your personal information. For further information please visit the www.ico.org.uk