PORTLAND PARK PRIVACY NOTICE
Your information, Your Rights
Being transparent and providing accessible information to patients about how we will use your personal information is a key element of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
The following notice reminds you of your rights of the above legislation and how your GP Practice will use your information for lawful purposes in order to deliver your care and the effective management of the local NHS system.
This notice reflects how we use information for:
- The management of patients 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 for our patients today and in the future.
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?
All personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully, whether it is received directly from you or from a third party in relation to your care.
We will collect the following types of information from you or about you from a third party (provider organisation) engaged in the delivery of your care:
- ‘Personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from the data. This could include, date of birth, full postcode, address, next of kin and CHI number.
And
- Special category/sensitive data such as medical history including details of appointments and contact with you. Medication, emergency appointments and admissions, clinical notes and treatments, results of investigations, supportive care arrangements, social care arrangements, social care status, race, ethnic origin, genetics and sexual orientation.
Your healthcare records contain information about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (eg from hospital, GP surgery, community care provider, mental health care provider). These records may be electronic, a paper record or a mixture of both. We use a combinations of technologies and working practices to ensure that we keep your information secure and confidential.
Why do we collect this information?
- 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;
- Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research; and
- Manage the health and social care system and services.
How is this 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 you GP’s electronic patient record or within your physical medical records.
Who will we share it with?
In order to deliver and co-ordinate your health and social care, we may share information with the following organisations:
- NHS acute services (ie referral process/emergency admission)
- Local Social Services and Community Care services ie District Nurses
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.
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 the GP can provide the appropriate 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 the practice has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. We maintain our duty of confidentiality by ensuring that 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 necessary.
Consent and obligations
Do I need to give my consent?
The GDPR sets a high standard for consent. Consent means offering people genuine control over how their data is used. However consent is only one potential lawful basis for processing information. Therefore your 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. Your GP Practice will contact you if they are required to share your information for any other purpose which is not mentioned within this notice. 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 write to withdraw your consent at any time for any particular instance of processing. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information or to raise your objection.
Payment Verification
Certain services that we provide attract payments that the Practice have to claim and verify. This can involve NHS staff conducting payment verification visits to the practice. These checks are carried out routinely and the staff may require access to medical records. Again all information is “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL”.
Thus in this restricted scenario:
- Records may be viewed by persons outside the primary care team which provides their care.
- The purpose of such disclosure is strictly limited to a verification process which is required to ensure Practice compliance with educational standards for trainee doctors.
- Any patient may object to the whole, or any part of the inspection of their own medical records and that their objection will be respected.
- The payment verification team are subject to a strict duty of confidentiality
We have no intention of sharing your data with third-parties for marketing purposes
Your Right of Access to your records
The Data Protection Act and 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 had delivered your treatment and care. You should however be aware that some details within your health records may be exempt from disclosure, this will be in the interest of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party. If you would like access to your records please submit your request in writing to:
Gillian Lowe, Practice Manager, Portland Park Medical Centre, 51 Portland Park, Hamilton, ML3 7JY
Complaints
In the event that you feel your GP Practice has not complied with the current data protections legislation, either in responding to your request or our general processing of your personal information, you should raise your concerns in the first instance in writing to:
Gillian Lowe, Practice Manager, Portland Park Medical Centre, 51 Portland Park, Hamilton, ML3 7JY
If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HL
Telephone: 0303 123 1115
Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk