Privacy notice

COVID-19

Please read our COVID-19 supplementary privacy notice (PDF).

Your information, what you need to know

This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you, how that information may be used and how we keep it safe and confidential.

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.

We collect and hold data for the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients. In carrying out this role we may collect information about you which helps us respond to your queries or secure specialist services. We may keep your information in written form and/or in digital form. The records may include basic details about you, such as your name and address. They may 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. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Records which Gloucester Health Access Centre may hold about you may 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 the NHS 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 our 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 the information is kept confidential and receive annual training on how to do this.

NHS health records may 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:

We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if 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 (i.e. life or death situations), or where the law requires information to be passed on.

How we use your information

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. Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare providers with the objective of providing you with better care.

You may choose to withdraw your consent to personal data being used in this way. When we are about to participate in a new data-sharing project we will make patients aware by displaying 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 each new scheme.

You can object to your personal information being shared with other health care providers but if this limits the treatment that you can receive then the doctor will explain this to you at the time.

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.

Clinical audit

Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. Some of this information may be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified e.g. the National Diabetes Audit.

Clinical research

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

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.

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 the Data Protection Act 1998.

Data matching by the cabinet office is subject to a code of practice.

Risk stratification

Risk stratification is a process for identifying and managing patients who are most likely to need hospital or other healthcare services. 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 and not just the treatment of sickness. Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS trusts and from the practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information using software managed by Sollis and hosted by South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit and provided back to this practice. If necessary we may be able to offer you additional services. 

Risk stratification is commissioned by the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in this area. Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 provides a statutory legal basis to process data for risk stratification purposes.

If you do not wish information about you to be included in the risk stratification programme, please let us know. We can add a code to your records that will stop your information from being used for this purpose.

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 CCG 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 check the CCG that 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.

Supporting medicines management

CCGs support local GP practices with prescribing queries which generally don’t require identifiable information. CCG pharmacists work with your practice to provide advice on medicines and prescribing queries, and review prescribing of medicines to ensure that it is safe and cost-effective. Where specialist support is required e.g. to order a drug that comes in solid form, in gas or liquid, the CCG medicines management team will order this on behalf of the practice to support your care.

Safeguarding

To ensure that adult and children’s safeguarding matters are managed appropriately, access to identifiable information will be shared in some limited circumstances where it’s legally required for the safety of the individuals concerned.

Local sharing via joining up your information (JUYI)

Your patient record is held securely and confidentially on our electronic system. We want to provide you with the best care possible. If you require attention from a health professional such as an emergency department, minor injury unit or out of hours location, those treating you are better able to give appropriate care if some of the information from your GP patient record is available to them. This information can be locally shared electronically via the JUYI system.

The information is only used by authorised health and social care professionals in Gloucestershire-based organisations, involved in your direct care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, unless the health and social care user is unable to ask you and there is a valid reason for access, which will then be logged. 

If you do not wish to share your medical records outside of your practice you can opt out at any time by contacting the practice, but this might impact the care you receive.

Physical health checks for serious mental illness – independence trust practice support

In order to improve take up of Physical Health Checks for patient with a Serious Mental Illness, Gloucester Health Access Centre and Matson Lane Surgeries are working with Independence Trust who will be contacting patients on behalf of Gloucester Health Access Centre and Matson Lane Surgeries to discuss the importance of an annual health check, they will encourage uptake and offer support with booking and attending appointments.

Legal Basis: For processing Personal Data: GDPR 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.’

Processor: For processing Special Category Data: (e.g. health): GDPR 9(2)(h) ‘processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive medicine, the provision of health care, and the management of health or social care systems.

Data retention

We will approach the management of 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.

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
  • Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
  • Private Sector Providers
  • Voluntary Sector Providers
  • Ambulance Trusts
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • 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 consent unless there are lawful 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 purposes – Risk Stratification, Invoice Validation, Supporting Medicines Management, Summary Care Record – 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 not to have your information shared with the other NHS organisations; otherwise they 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.

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 fair processing 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. If you wish to do so, please let us know so we can code your record appropriately. 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.

There are two main types of opt-out.

Type 1 opt-out

If you do not want information that identifies you to be shared outside the practice, for purposes beyond your direct care, you can register a ‘Type 1 Opt-Out’. This prevents your personal confidential information from being used other than in particular circumstances required by law, such as a public health emergency like an outbreak of a pandemic disease.

National data opt-out

The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018, enabling patients to opt-out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes, in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in her Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-Outs.

By 2020 all health and care organisations are required to apply national data opt-outs where confidential patient information is used for research and planning purposes. NHS Digital has been applying national data opt-outs since 25 May 2018. Public Health England has been applying national data opt-outs since September 2018.

The national data opt-out replaces the previous ‘type 2’ opt-out, which required NHS Digital not to share a patient’s confidential patient information for purposes beyond their individual care. Any patient that had a type 2 opt-out recorded on or before 11 October 2018 has had it automatically converted to a national data opt-out. Those aged 13 or over were sent a letter giving them more information and a leaflet explaining the national data opt-out. For more information see the National data opt out programme

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters.

On this web page you will:

  • See what is meant by confidential patient information
  • Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
  • Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
  • Understand more about who uses the data
  • Find out how your data is protected
  • Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
  • Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
  • See the situations where the opt-out will not apply

Access to your information

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 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, but you may be charged a fee.

If you want to access your data you must make the request in writing. Under special circumstances, some information may be withheld. If you wish to have a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact: Anna Habicht, Compliance Administrator.

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

If you provide us with your mobile phone number we may use this to send you reminders about your appointments or other health screening information. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive reminders on your mobile.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 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 at: ico.org.uk

Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and in a prominent area at the practice.

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 the Data Protection Act 1998.

Website: www.digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information

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.

Website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england

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.

Website: www.digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/our-work/keeping-patient-data-safe/how-we-look-after-your-health-and-care-information/understanding-the-health-and-care-information-we-collect

Healthy.io

ACR project for patients with diabetes

The data is being processed for the purpose of delivery of a programme, sponsored by NHS Digital, to monitor urine for indications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) which is recommended to be undertaken annually for patients at risk of chronic kidney disease e.g., patients living with diabetes. The programme enables patients to test their kidney function from home. We will share your contact details with Healthy.io to enable them to contact you and confirm that you wish them to send you a test kit. This will help identify patients at risk of kidney disease and help us agree any early interventions that can be put in place for the benefit of your care. Healthy.io will only use your data for the purposes of delivering their service to you. If you do not wish to receive a home test kit from Healthy.io we will continue to manage your care within the Practice. Healthy.io are required to hold data we send them in line with retention periods outlined in the Records Management code of Practice for Health and Social Care.

Further information about this is available within the Self-test for Kidney Disease from home leaflet.

Lung health related data

The Practice shares your lung health related data with the lung health check service operated by Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire (SWAG) Cancer Alliance and InHealth (commissioned by NHS England). This supports your invitation for a lung health check appointment (where you are eligible) and possible CT scan by the lung health check team. This data may be shared with your local hospital trust to support further treatment and with other healthcare professionals involved in your care.

For further information, please see the full lung health check privacy notice: www.swaglunghealthcheck.nhs.uk