PRIVACY POLICY
Privacy Notice
We understand how important it is to keep your personal information safe and secure and we take this very seriously. We have taken steps to make sure your personal information is looked after in the best possible way and we review this regularly.
Please read this privacy notice carefully, as it contains important information about how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect on your behalf.
CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY
Confidentiality & Medical Records
The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:
To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.
If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.
Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.
Freedom of Information
Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.
Access & Subject Access Requests
You have the right to see what information we hold about you and to request a copy of this information. Any requests for copies of medical records will need to be in writing. We will provide this information free of charge however, we may in some limited and exceptional circumstances have to make an administrative charge for any extra copies of if the information requested is excessive, complex or repetitive.
We have one month to reply to you and give the information that you require. We would ask, therefore,. that any requests you make are in writing and it is made clear to us what and how much information you require.
Your information, what you need to know
This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you, how that information will be used, how we keep it safe and confidential and what your rights are in relation to this.
Why we collect information about you
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 and help us to protect your safety.
We collect and hold data for the purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients and running our organisation which includes monitoring the quality of care that we provide. In carrying out this role we will collect information about you which helps us respond to your queries or secure specialist services. We will keep your information in written form and/or in digital form. The records will include basic details about you, such as your name and address. They will also contain more sensitive information about your health and also information such as outcomes of needs assessments.
Details we collect about you
The health care professionals who provide you with care, maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. from Hospitals, GP Surgeries, A&E, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.
Records which this GP Practice will hold about you will include the following:
- Details about you, such as your address and next of kin
- 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
How we keep your information confidential and safe
Everyone working for our organisation is subject to the Common Law Duty of Confidence. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes advised with consent given by the patient, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law. The NHS Digital Code of Practice on Confidential Information applies to all NHS staff and they are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. All our staff are expected to make sure information is kept confidential and receive regular training on how to do this.
The health records we use will be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Your records are backed up securely in line with NHS standard procedures. We ensure that the information we hold is kept in secure locations, is protected by appropriate security and access is restricted to authorised personnel.
We also make sure external data processors that support us are legally and contractually bound to operate and prove security arrangements are in place where data that could or does identify a person are processed.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:
- Data Protection Act 2018
- General Data Protection Regulation
- Human Rights Act
- Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
- NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security
- Health and Social Care Act 2015
- And all applicable legislation
- We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if we reasonably believe that others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (such as a risk of serious harm to yourself or others) or where the law requires information to be passed on. Please note, if you give another person or organisation consent to access your record we will need to contact you to verify your consent before we release that record. It is important that you are clear and understand how much and what aspects of, your record you give consent to be disclosed.
How we use your information
Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare organisations for the purpose of providing you, your family and your community with better care. For example it is possible for healthcare professionals in other services to access your record with your permission when the practice is closed. This is explained further in the Local Information Sharing section below.
Under the powers of the Health and Social Care Act 2015, NHS Digital can request personal confidential data from GP Practices without seeking patient consent for a number of specific purposes, which are set out in law. These purposes are explained below.
You can choose to withdraw your consent to your personal data being shared for these purposes. When we are about to participate in a new data-sharing project we will display prominent notices in the Practice and on our website at least four weeks before the scheme is due to start. Instructions will be provided to explain what you have to do to ‘opt-out’ of the new scheme. Please be aware that it may not be possible to opt out of one scheme and not others, so you may have to opt out of all the schemes if you do not wish your data to be shared.
You can object to your personal information being shared with other healthcare providers but should be aware that this may, in some instances, affect your care as important information about your health might not be available to healthcare staff in other organisations. If this limits the treatment that you can receive then the practice staff will explain this to you at the time you object.
To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS.
Child Health Information
We wish to make sure that your child has the opportunity to have immunisations and health checks when they are due. We share information about childhood immunisations, the 6-8 week new baby check and breast-feeding status with NHS Health Foundation Trust health visitors and school nurses, and with NHS South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, who provide the Child Health Information Service in Hampshire on behalf of NHS England.
Clinical audit
Information will be used by the Integrated Care Board ( Formerly Clinical Commissioning Group) for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided to patients with long terms conditions. When required, information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes (e.g. the National Diabetes Audit). When this happens, strict measures are taken to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified from the data.
Clinical Research
We get requests from organisations to use our information for research purposes - we will always ask your permission before releasing any information for this purpose.
Department for Work and Pensions
Our practice is legally required to provide anonymised data on patients who have been issued with a fit note under the Fit for Work scheme. The purpose is to provide the Department for Work and Pensions with information from fit notes to improve the monitoring of public health and commissioning and quality of health services.
Improving Diabetes Care
Information that does not identify individual patients is used to enable focused discussions to take place at practice-led local diabetes review meetings between health care professionals. This enables the professionals to improve the management and support of these patients.
Individual Funding Request
An ‘Individual Funding Request’ is a request made on your behalf, with your consent, by a clinician, for funding of specialised healthcare which falls outside the range of services and treatments that Integrated Care Board has agreed to commission for the local population. An Individual Funding Request is taken under consideration when a case can be set out by a patient’s clinician that there are exceptional clinical circumstances which make the patient’s case different from other patients with the same condition who are at the same stage of their disease, or when the request is for a treatment that is regarded as new or experimental and where there are no other similar patients who would benefit from this treatment. A detailed response, including the criteria considered in arriving at the decision, will be provided to the patient’s clinician.
Invoice Validation
Invoice validation is an important process. It involves using your NHS number to identify which Integrated Care Board is responsible for paying for your treatment. Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 provides a statutory legal basis to process data for invoice validation purposes. We can also use your NHS number to check whether your care has been funded through specialist commissioning, which NHS England will pay for. The process makes sure that the organisations providing your care are paid correctly.
Local Information Sharing
Your GP electronic patient record is held securely and confidentially on an electronic system managed by your registered GP practice. If you require attention from a health professional such as an Emergency Department, Minor Injury Unit or Out Of Hours service, the professionals treating you are better able to give you safe and effective care if relevant information from your GP record is available to them.
Where available, this information can be shared electronically with other local health and care providers via a secure system designed for this purpose. Depending on the service you are using and your health and care needs, this may involve the professional accessing a secure system that enables them to view relevant parts of your GP electronic patient record (e.g your local shared care record or your National Care Records Service.
In all cases, your information is only accessed and used by authorised health and social care professionals in locally based organisations who are involved in providing or supporting your direct care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. emergencies) if the healthcare professional is unable to ask you and this is deemed to be in your best interests (which will then be logged).
National Fraud Initiative - Cabinet Office
The use of data by the Cabinet Office for data matching is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under Data Protection legislation. Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice. Information about the Code of Data Matching Practice for National Fraud Initiative.
National Registries
National Registries (such as the Learning Disabilities Register) have statutory permission under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006, to collect and hold service user identifiable information without the need to seek informed consent from each individual service user.
Risk Stratification
‘Risk stratification for case finding’ is a process for identifying and managing patients who have or may be at-risk of health conditions (such as diabetes) or who are most likely to need healthcare services (such as people with frailty). Risk stratification tools used in the NHS help determine a person’s risk of suffering a particular condition and enable us to focus on preventing ill health before it develops.
Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts, GP Federations and your GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information. This can help us identify and offer you additional services to improve your health.
Risk-stratification data may also be used to improve local services and commission new services, where there is an identified need. In this area, risk stratification may be commissioned by the Integrated Care Board. Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 provides a statutory legal basis to process data for risk stratification purposes. Further information about risk stratification.
If you do not wish information about you to be included in any risk stratification programmes, please let us know. We can add a code to your records that will stop your information from being used for this purpose. Please be aware that this may limit the ability of healthcare professionals to identify if you have or are at risk of developing certain serious health conditions.
Safeguarding
To ensure that adult and children’s safeguarding matters are managed appropriately, access to identifiable information will be shared in circumstances where it’s legally required for the safety of the individuals concerned.
National Care Records Service
The NHS in England uses a national electronic record called the National Care Records Service to support patient care. It contains key information from your GP record. Your NCRS provides authorised healthcare staff with faster, secure access to essential information about you in an emergency or when you need unplanned care, where such information would otherwise be unavailable.
NCRS are there to improve the safety and quality of your care. NCRS core information comprises your allergies, adverse reactions and medications. A NCRS with additional information can also include reason for medication, vaccinations, significant diagnoses / problems, significant procedures, anticipatory care information and end of life care information. Additional information can only be added to your NCRS with your agreement.
Please be aware that if you choose to opt-out of NCRS, NHS healthcare staff caring for you outside of this surgery may not be aware of your current medications, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had, in order to treat you safely in an emergency. Your records will stay as they are now with information being shared by letter, email, fax or phone. If you wish to opt-out of having an NCRS please return a completed opt-out form to the practice.
Supporting Medicines Management
Integrated Care Boards operate pharmacist and prescribing advice services to support local GP practices with prescribing queries, which may require identifiable information to be shared. These pharmacists work with your usual GP to provide advice on medicines and prescribing queries, and review prescribing of medicines to ensure that it is appropriate for your needs, safe and cost-effective. Where specialist prescribing support is required, the Integrated Care Boards medicines optimisation team may order medications on behalf of your GP Practice to support your care.
Supporting Locally Commissioned Services Integrated Care Boards support GP practices by auditing anonymised data to monitor locally commissioned services, measure prevalence and support data quality. The data does not include identifiable information and is used to support patient care and ensure providers are correctly paid for the services they provide.
Data Retention
We manage patient records in line with the Records Management NHS Code of Practice for Health and Social Care which sets the required standards of practice in the management of records for those who work within or under contract to NHS organisations in England, based on current legal requirements and professional best practice. If you transfer to another GP and we are asked to transfer your records we will do this to ensure your care is continued. Currently the NHS is required to keep GP records for 10 years after a patient has died. Exceptions to these rules are detailed in the code of practice.
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
- GP Federations
- 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’
We will never share your information outside of health partner organisations without your explicit consent unless there are exceptional circumstances such as when the health or safety of others is at risk, where the law requires it or to carry out a statutory function.
Within the health partner organisations (NHS and Specialist Trusts) and in relation to the above mentioned themes – Risk Stratification, Invoice Validation, Supporting Medicines Management, National Care Records Service– we will assume you are happy for your information to be shared unless you choose to opt-out (see below).
This means you will need to express an explicit wish to not have your information shared with the other organisations; otherwise it will be automatically shared. We are required by law to report certain information to the appropriate authorities. This is only provided after formal permission has been given by a qualified health professional. There are occasions when we must pass on information, such as notification of new births, where we encounter infectious diseases which may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS), and where a formal court order has been issued. Our guiding principle is that we are holding your records in strictest confidence.
Extended Access – we provide extended access services to our patients which means you can access medical services outside of our normal working hours. In order to provide you with this service, we have formal arrangements in place with the Integrated Care Board and with other practices whereby certain key “hub” practices offer this service on our behalf for you as a patient to access outside of our opening hours. This means, those key “hub” practices will have to have access to your medical record to be able to offer you the service. Please note to ensure that those practices comply with the law and to protect the use of your information, we have very robust data sharing agreements and other clear arrangements in place to ensure your data is always protected and used for those purposes only.
The key Hub practices are as follows:
- TLC Federation (based at Romsey Hospital)
- Lymington
- Romsey
Data Extraction by the Integrated care Board at times extracts medical information about you, but the information we pass to them via our computer systems cannot identify you to them. This information only refers to you by way of a code that only your practice can identify (it is pseudo-anonymised). This therefore protects you from anyone who may have access to this information at the Integrated Care Board from ever identifying you as a result of seeing the medical information and we will never give them the information that would enable them to do this.
There are good reasons why the Integrated Care Board may require this pseudo-anonymised information, these are as follows:
Audits on Enhanced services provided by the practice (i.e. child immunisations; sexual health; leg ulcers; minor injuries; vaccinations- such as influenza, shingles and pneumococcal;
TLC Federation. (Tri Locality LTD)
TLC Ltd is a federation of nine local practices (Park & St Francis Surgery, Fryern Surgery, North Baddesley and Knightwood Surgeries, Parkside Practice, Archers Practice, Andrews Surgery, Boyatt Wood Surgery, Alma Road and Abbey well Surgery ) who are working together to share resources, skills & experience to provide cost-effect, patient-centred healthcare for all patient in the Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh and Romsey area.
Your right to withdraw consent for us to share your personal information (Opt-Out)
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 do not want your information to be used for any purpose beyond providing your care you can choose to opt-out. We will respect your decision if you do not wish your information to be used for any purpose other than your care but in some circumstances we may still be legally required to disclose your data.
The NHS Constitution states ‘You have a right to request that your personal confidential information is not used beyond your own care and treatment and to have your objections considered’. Further information regarding your right to withdraw consent.
There are several forms of opt- outs available at different levels:
Type 1 opt-out. If you do not want personal confidential information that identifies you to be shared outside your GP practice you can register a ‘Type 1 opt-out’ with your GP practice. This prevents your personal confidential information from being used except for your direct health care needs and in particular circumstances required by law, such as a public health emergency like an outbreak of a pandemic disease. If you do not want your information to be used for any purpose beyond providing your care you can choose to opt-out. If you wish to do so, please let us know so we can code your record appropriately to stop your records from being shared outside of your GP Practice.
National data opt-out
The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018 and replaces the previous ‘type 2’ opt-out. NHS Digital collects information from a range of places where people receive care, such as hospitals and community services. The new programme provides a facility for individuals to opt-out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes. For anyone who had an existing type 2 opt-out, it will have been automatically converted to a national data opt-out from 25 May 2018 and you will receive a letter giving you more information and a leaflet explaining the new national data opt-out.
The national data opt-out choice can be viewed or changed at any time by using the online service at www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters
Access to your information
Under Data Protection Legislation everybody has the right to see, or have a copy, of data we hold that can identify you, with some exceptions. You do not need to give a reason to see your data. Under special circumstances, some information may be withheld. We may charge a reasonable fee for the administration of the request in certain instances (e.g. where a duplicate copy is requested).
If you wish to have a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact the administration team at St Francis Surgery.
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 are incorrect in order for this to be amended. Please inform us of any changes so our records for you are accurate and up to date.
Mobile telephone number
Because we are obliged to protect any confidential information we hold about you and we take this very seriously, it is imperative that you let us know immediately if you change any of your contact details.
We may contact you using SMS texting to your mobile phone in the event that we need to notify you about appointments and other services that we provide to you involving your direct care, therefore you must ensure that we have your up to date details. This is to ensure we are sure we are actually contacting you and not another person.
Email address
Where you have provided us with your email address we will use this to send you information relating to your health and the services we provide if you have consented to this method of contact.
SPECIAL CATEGORIES
The Law states that personal information about your health falls into a special category of information because it is very sensitive. Reasons that may entitle us to use and process your information may be as follows:
PUBLIC INTEREST: Where we may need to handle your personal information when it is considered to be in the public interest. For example, when there is an outbreak of a specific disease and we need to contact you for treatment, or we need to pass your information to relevant organisations to ensure you receive advice and/or treatment;
CONSENT: When you have given us consent;
VITAL INTEREST: If you are incapable of giving consent, and we have to use your information to protect your vital interests (e.g. if you have had an accident and you need emergency treatment);
DEFENDING A CLAIM: If we need your information to defend a legal claim against us by you, or by another party;
PROVIDING YOU WITH MEDICAL CARE: Where we need your information to provide you with medical and healthcare services
HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We carefully consider any personal information that we store about you, and we will not keep your information for longer than is necessary for the purposes as set out in this Privacy Notice.
UNDER 16s
There is a separate privacy notice for patients under the age of 16, a copy of which may be obtained on request.
IF ENGLISH IS NOT YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE
If English is not your first language you can request a translation of this Privacy Notice. Please contact our Data Protection Officer.
Notification
Data Protection Legislation requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information.
We are registered as a Data Controller and our registration can be viewed online in the public register.
Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and in a prominent area at the Practice.
Data Protection Officer
Should you have any data protection questions or concerns, please contact our Data Protection Officer at: hiowicb-hsi.parksurgery-admin@nhs.net.
Complaints
If you are unhappy about any of our services, please contact the Practice Manager.
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113 Website: www.ico.gov.uk
Further Information
Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found here:
The NHS Care Record Guarantee
The NHS Care Record Guarantee for England sets out the rules that govern how patient information is used in the NHS, what control the patient can have over this, the rights individuals have to request copies of their data and how data is protected under Data Protection Legislation.
Details regarding the NHS Care Record Guarantee
The NHS Constitution
The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. It sets out the rights patients, the public and staff are entitled to. These rights cover how patients access health services, the quality of care you’ll receive, the treatments and programmes available to you, confidentiality, information and your right to complain if things go wrong.
Details regarding the NHS Constitution
NHS Digital
NHS Digital collects health information from the records health and social care providers keep about the care and treatment they give, to promote health or support improvements in the delivery of care services in England.
Reviews of and Changes to our Privacy Notice
We will keep our Privacy Notice under regular review. This notice was last reviewed in July 2024.
Website Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all individuals using this website.
This policy explains how we use any personal information we collect from you through this website.
Collection of personal information
You can access most of the pages on our website without giving us your personal information. However, you may choose to provide us with your personal information on some pages of the website by completing an on-line form.
By submitting your personal information, you consent to our use of the information as set out in this privacy policy.
Use of personal information
We shall use any personal information you give to us, in accordance with this policy, and with any additional statements appearing on forms used for submitting your personal information. We shall not disclose your personal information to any third parties without obtaining your prior consent unless we are required by law to do so. In particular:
We shall use your personal information to administer, and may respond to, your request.
We shall securely store the information you supply together with any response we may provide.
If you contact us regarding the website we may use your details to reply to you. If you make a comment or complaint about other aspects of the service we may use your details to investigate your comments.
Website privacy
This website uses https to ensure data is encrypted in transmission. This encryption, known as TLS encryption protocol, allows us to protect your privacy. You can usually verify that the page is encrypted by seeing a small lock symbol in the upper left corner of your browser and the website address is prefixed with https://.
Data storage
All data obtained by us is held and used in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018.
Cookie Policy
Please read our Cookie Policy.
Links
This website contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties that run any other websites. Please refer to their own privacy policies for more information.
