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Patient Data Protection

How we use your personal information

Being transparent and providing accessible information to patients about how we will use your personal information is a key element of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations).

The following policy reminds you of your rights in respect of the above legislation and how Marsh Medical Practice will use your information for lawful purposes in order to deliver your care and the effective management of the local NHS system.

This policy reflects how we use information for:

  • The management of patient records;
  • Communication concerning your clinical, social and supported care;
  • Ensuring the quality of your care and the best clinical outcomes are achieved through clinical audit and retrospective review;
  • Participation in health and social care research; and
  • The management and clinical planning of services to ensure that appropriate care is in place.
Data Controller

As your registered GP Practice, we are the data controller for any personal data that we hold about you.

What information do we collect and use?

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

  • The General Data Protection Regulations Legislation (GDPR)
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
  • Health and Social Care Act 2012
  • NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security

Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully, whether is it received directly from you or from a third party in relation to your care. ‘Personal data’ means any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from the data. This includes, but is not limited to name, date of birth, full postcode, address, next of kin and NHS Number; and ‘Special category / sensitive personal data’ includes information such as medical history including details of appointments and contacts with you, medication, emergency appointments and admissions, clinical notes, treatments, results of investigations, supportive care arrangements, social care status, race, ethnic origin, genetics and sexual orientation.

We may collect the following types of information from you or about you from a third party (provider organisation) engaged in the delivery of your care:

  • Details about you, such as your address, legal representative, emergency contact details
  • Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
  • 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, relatives or those who care for you
  • Your records will be retained in accordance with the NHS Code of Practice for Records Management

Your healthcare records contain information about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. from an acute hospital, GP surgery, community care provider, mental health care provider, walk-in centre, social services). These records maybe electronic, a paper record or a mixture of both. We use a combination of technologies and working practices to ensure that we keep your information secure and confidential.

Why do we collect this information?

The NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the health service in England, improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training. To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with current data protection legislation to:

  • Protect your vital interests;
  • Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the individual is a child or a vulnerable adult;
  • Perform tasks in the public’s interest;
  • Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research; and
  • Manage the health and social care system and services.
How do we use this information?

To ensure that you receive the best possible care, your records will be used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may also be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. In addition, your information will be used to identify whether you are at risk of a future unplanned hospital admission and/or require support to effectively manage a long term condition.

How is the information collected?

Your information will be collected either electronically using secure NHS Mail or a secure electronic transfer over an NHS encrypted network connection. In addition, physical information will be sent to your Practice. This information will be retained within a GP’s electronic patient record or within your physical medical records.

Who will we share your information with?

In order to deliver and coordinate your health and social care, we may share information with the following organisations:

  • NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
  • GP’s
  • NHS Commissioning Support Units
  • Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
  • Private Sector Providers
  • Voluntary Sector Providers
  • Ambulance Trusts
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • Social Care Services
  • NHS Digital
  • Local Authorities
  • Education Services
  • Fire and Rescue Services
  • Police & Judicial Services
  • Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of.

Your information will only be shared if it is appropriate for the provision of your care or required to satisfy our statutory function and legal obligations.

Your information will not be transferred outside of the European Union.

Who do we receive information from?

Whilst we might share your information with the above organisations, we may also receive information from them to ensure that your medical records are kept up to date and so that your GP can provide the appropriate care.

In addition we received data from NHS Digital (as directed by the Department of Health) such as the uptake of flu vaccinations and disease prevalence in order to assist us to improve “out of hospital care”.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information that has been collected lawfully. Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. We maintain our duty of confidentiality by conducting annual training and awareness, ensuring access to personal data is limited to the appropriate staff and information is only shared with organisations and individuals that have a legitimate and legal basis for access.

Information is not held for longer than is necessary. We will hold your information in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016.

Do I need to give my consent?

The GDPR sets a high standard for consent. Consent means offering people genuine choice and control over how their data is used.

However, consent is only one potential lawful basis for processing information. Therefore, a GP Practice may not need to seek your explicit consent for every instance of processing and sharing your information, on the condition that the processing is carried out in accordance with this notice. Marsh Medical Practice will contact you if they are required to share your information for any other purpose which is not mentioned within this policy. Your consent will be documented within your electronic patient record.

What will happen if I withhold my consent or raise an objection?

You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time for any particular instance of processing, provided consent is the legal basis for the processing. Please contact Marsh Medical Practice for further information and to raise any objection.

Health Risk Screening / Risk Stratification

Health Risk Screening or Risk Stratification is a process that helps your GP to determine whether you are at risk of an unplanned admission or deterioration in health. By using selected information such as age, gender, NHS number, diagnosis, existing long term condition(s), medication history, patterns of hospital attendances, admissions and periods of access to community care your GP will be able to judge if you are likely to need more support and care from time to time, or if the right services are in place to support the local population’s needs.

To summarise Risk Stratification is used in the NHS to:

  • Help decide if a patient is at a greater risk of suffering from a particular condition;
  • Prevent an emergency admission;
  • Identify if a patient needs medical help to prevent a health condition from getting worse; and/or
  • Review and amend provision of current health and social care services.

Marsh Medical Practice may use computer based algorithms or calculations to identify our registered patients who are at most risk, with support from the local Commissioning Support Unit and/or a third party accredited Risk Stratification provider.

Marsh Medical Practice will routinely conduct the risk stratification process outside of your GP appointment. This process is conducted electronically and without human intervention. The resulting report is then reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of staff within the Practice. This may result in contact being made with you if alterations to the provision of your care are identified.

A Section 251 Agreement is where the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has granted permission for personal data to be used for the purposes of risk stratification, in acknowledgement that it would overburden the NHS to conduct manual reviews of all patient registers held by individual providers. You have the right to object to your information being used in this way. However, you should be aware that your objection may have a negative impact on the timely and proactive provision of your direct care. Please contact the Operations Manager to discuss how disclosure of your personal data can be limited.

The National Data opt-out service is available from May 25th 2018. Patients can decide if they want to share their personally identifiable data to be used for planning and research purposes. Please see www.digital.nhs.uk for more details

Sharing of Electronic Patient Records within the NHS

Electronic patient records are kept in most places where you receive healthcare. Our local electronic systems (SystmOne) enables your record to be shared with organisations involved in your direct care, such as:

  • GP practices
  • Community services such as district nurses, rehabilitation services, telehealth and out of hospital services.
  • Child health services that undertake routine treatment or health screening
  • Urgent care organisations, minor injury units or out of hours services
  • Community hospitals
  • Palliative care hospitals
  • Care Homes
  • Mental Health Trusts
  • Hospitals
  • Social Care organisations
  • Pharmacies

In addition, NHS England have implemented the Summary Care Record which contains information about medication you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any adverse reactions to medication that you have had in the past.

Your electronic health record contains lots of information about you. In most cases, particularly for patients with complex conditions and care arrangements, the shared record plays a vital role in delivering the best care and a coordinated response, taking into account all aspects of a person’s physical and mental health. Many patients are understandably not able to provide a full account of their care or may not be in a position to do so. The shared record means patients do not have to repeat their medical history at every care setting.

Your record will be automatically setup to be shared with the organisations listed above, however you have the right to ask your GP to disable this function or restrict access to specific elements of your record. This will mean that the information recorded by Marsh Medical Practice will not be visible at any other care setting.

You can also reinstate your consent at any time by giving your permission to override your previous dissent.

Call Recording Policy
1. General Principles

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects personal information held by organisations on computer and relevant filing systems. It enforces a set of standards for the processing of such information. In general terms it provides that all data shall be used for specific purposes only and not used or disclosed in any way incompatible with these purposes.

In the course of its activities the Practice will collect, store and process personal data, including the recording of all telephone calls, and it recognises that the correct and lawful treatment of this data will maintain confidence in the organisation and will provide for successful business operations.

The Practice is registered with the Information Commissioner for all necessary activities under the GDPR.

2. Call Recording Overview
  • Purposes of call recording - The purpose of call recording is to provide an exact record of the call which can:
  • Protect the interests of both parties;
  • Help improve Practice performance, assist with training and best practice;
  • Help protect Practice staff from abusive or nuisance calls;
  • Establish the facts in the event of a complaint either by a patient or a member of staff and so assist in resolving it;
3. Communicating the Use of Call Recording System

The Practice will inform all patients in the first instance via a recorded announcement during incoming calls.

This policy is also available on the Practice website.

All incoming calls are recorded but some outgoing calls may not be recorded due to remote working and other working arrangements.

4. Procedures for Managing and Releasing Call Recordings

a) The recordings shall be stored securely, with access to the recordings controlled and managed by the Data Controller or any other persons authorised to do so by the Data Controller.

b) Access to the recordings is only allowed to satisfy a clearly defined business need and reasons for requesting access must be formally authorised only by a the Data Controller or relevant Manager.

c) The browsing of recordings for no valid reason is not permitted.

d) The GDPR allows persons access to information that we hold about them. This includes recorded telephone calls. Therefore, the recordings will be stored in such a way to enable the Data Controller to retrieve information relating to one or more individuals as easily as possible.

e) Requests for copies of telephone conversations made as Subject Access Requests under the GDPR must be notified in writing to the Practice immediately and, subject to assessment, he/she will request the call recording and arrange a copy of the recording to be provided to the individual concerned. A voice recording only will be provided. The Practice cannot transcribe calls at patients bequest.

f) In the case of a request from an external body in connection with the detection or prevention of crime e.g. the Police, the request should be forwarded to the Data Controller who will complete the request for a call recording.

g) Recordings of calls will be stored securely.

Invoice Validation

If you have received treatment within the NHS, the local Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) may require access to your personal information to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for payment for the treatment or procedures you have received. Information such as your name, address, date of treatment and associated treatment code may be passed onto the CSU to enable them to process the bill. These details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information is only used to validate invoices in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement and will not be shared for any further commissioning purposes.

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.

Your Right of Access to Your Records

The General Data Protection Regulations allows you to find out what information is held about you including information held within your medical records, either in electronic or physical format. This is known as the “right of subject access”. If you would like to have access to all or part of your records, you can make a request in writing to the organisation that you believe holds your information. This can be your GP, or a provider that is or has delivered your treatment and care. You should however be aware that some details within your health records may be exempt from disclosure, however this will be in the interests of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party. If you would like access to your GP record please submit your request in writing to:

The Operations Manager
North Somercotes Surgery
Keeling St
North Somercotes
Louth LN11 7QU
Complaints

In the event that you feel Marsh Medical Practice has not complied with the current data protection legislation, either in responding to your request or in our general processing of your personal information, you should raise your concerns in the first instance in writing to the Operations Manager at the address above.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wimslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF – Enquiry Line: 01625 545700 or online at www.ico.gov.uk