Privacy Notice

How your personal information is used

There have been recent changes in the data protection regulations (commonly referred to as GDPR). This notice explains why information is collected about you when you register as a patient and how that information may be used.

Following registration, records will be maintained about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously at another centre. These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare. These records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and a combination of working practices and technology is used to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

Records which are held about you may include the following information:

  • Details about you, such as your address and contact details
  • Details about appointments and clinic visits Notes and reports about your health
  • Details about your treatment and care
  • Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
  • Relevant information from other health professionals or others who care for you

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information may be also used within this practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

 

How is the confidentiality of your records maintained?

It is important to protect your privacy and only use information collected lawfully will be used and kept in accordance with:

  • Data Protection Act 2018
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Common Law Duty of Confidentiality Health and Social Care Act 2012
  • NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management Information

Information about you will only be passed on if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. No information will be disclosed to any third party without your explicit consent unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e., life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles. They should be supported by the policies of their employers, regulators and professional bodies.

 

Access to personal information

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 2018 to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information is held about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. In order to request this, you need to do the following:

  • Your request must be made in writing (which can be by email)
  • There may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you
  • We are required to respond to you within 40 days
  • You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, reference number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located

 

Change of details

It is important that you inform the practice 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 2018 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. This practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

 

Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed or other complaints, please contact the practice directly. If you are still unhappy following an internal review, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

www.ico.org.uk, casework@ico.org.uk, telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared then please contact the practice (anne@annemacgregor.com).