Privacy Notice

COVID-19 Privacy Notice

Download the privacy notice relating to COVID-19 (DOCX, 18KB)

Dedicated Patient and Service user communication (GP practices)

This Privacy Notice has been checked and approved as being fit for purpose by Craig Walker, Information Governance Manager at St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Craig and colleagues have a contract with NHS England to provide Information Governance to GP practices in Warrington.

The document provides information on action needed by practices to support meeting information governance requirements.

If you have any queries about this document or any Information Governance issues, then you can contact the Information Governance Team at St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for advice at igcww@sthk.nhs.uk

Compliance Guidance

GP practices must provide via their web sites and in hard copy format a copy of a patient leaflet that explains how their health record may be used (this will be supplied by Warrington Health Plus once it is back from the printers).

In addition to this leaflet, copies of the NHS Care Record Guarantee (EXTERNAL PDF LINK) and NHS Constitution should also be made available to patients. The following Model Privacy Notice may be used on GP Practice web sites and in hardcopy materials where personal data is being obtained.

Model GP Privacy Notice

Park View Medical Practice Privacy Notice

How we use your information

Our Privacy Notice explains why we collect your information and how that information may be used.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 we must ensure that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are transparent and that you would reasonably expect. The Health and Social

Care Act 2012 has altered the way that personal confidential data are processed. Consequently, you must be aware and understand these changes and that you have the opportunity to object and understand how to exercise that right.

Health care professionals who provide you with care are required by law to maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received within any NHS organisation. 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 and through established working procedures and best practice coupled with technology we ensure your personal data is kept confidential and secure. Records held by us may include the following:

Your personal data, such as address and next of kin;
Your history with us, such as appointments, vaccinations, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc;
Notes and reports about your health;
Details about your treatment and care;
Results of investigations and referrals such as blood tests, x-rays, etc; and
Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you.

We obtain and hold data for the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients and we will ensure that the information is kept confidential. We can disclose your personal information if:

It is required by law;
You consent – either implicitly or for the sake of your own care or explicitly for other purposes; and
It is justified in the public interest

Some of this information is held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we hold data centrally, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the Practice will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

Risk Stratification

Risk Stratification is a process that helps your family doctor (GP) to help you manage your health. By using selected information from your health records, a secure NHS computer system will look at any recent treatments you have had in hospital or in the surgery and any existing health conditions that you have. This will alert your doctor to the likelihood of a possible deterioration in your health. The clinical team at the surgery will use the information to help you get early care and treatment where it is needed. North West Commissioning Support Unit (NWCSU) DSCRO (the regional processing centre) supports GP Practices with this work. NHS security systems will protect your health information and patient confidentiality at all times.

Please note that you have the right to opt out of Risk Stratification.

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed, or wish to opt out of any data collection at the Practice, please contact the practice, or your healthcare professional to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited.

Patients have the right to change their minds and reverse a previous decision. Please contact the practice, if you change your mind regarding any previous choice.

Invoice validation

We will use limited information about individual patients when validating invoices received for your healthcare, to ensure that the invoice is accurate and genuine. This will be performed in a secure environment and will be carried out by a limited number of authorised CSU staff. These activities and all identifiable information will remain with the Controlled Environment for Finance (CEfF) approved by NHS England. Where possible we will strive to use the NHS number as a quasi-identifier to preserve your confidentiality.

Our partner organisations

We may need to share your information, subject to agreement on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

NHS Trusts
Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
Specialist Trusts
Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
Private Sector Providers
Voluntary Sector Providers
Ambulance Trusts
Clinical Commissioning Groups
Commissioning Support Units
Social Care Services
Local Authorities
Education Services
Fire and Rescue Services
Police
Other ‘data processors’

Access to personal information held about you

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have a right to access/view information we hold about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. 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; and
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 in a prominent area at the Practice.

We are registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. The registration can be viewed online in the public register at:

ico.org.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers

How we keep your personal information confidential

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (which is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office), Human Rights Act, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, and the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security.

Residential/
Nursing Care

Home
Care

Retirement
Living

Ultrasound
Scanning