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How We Use Your Information

Your information, what you need to know

This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you, how that information may 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 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. from Hospitals, GP Surgeries, A&E, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Records which this GP Practice 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 use your information: For providing your care

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.

Prescriptions
Where you have agreed we will send information on your prescriptions to pharmacies, either by electronic systems or by paper.

Test requests and results
Where we undertake tests on you, such as blood tests, we will send the sample and details of the tests we are requesting to the most appropriate pathology laboratory. The data shared with the laboratory will include your NHS number, name, the type of test requested and any health information relevant to doing the test and producing the result or report. We will receive the test results back from the laboratory electronically and these will be stored in your patient record.

Extended services and out of hours
We work closely with neighbouring practices and ‘out of hours’ providers including NHS 111 to ensure that if you need care from a doctor outside of normal hours that they have access to your records when needed to give you the best possible care. This may be delivered over the phone or via video consultation as appropriate. Services may be run by ‘GP Federations’ and ‘Primary Care Networks’.

Patient referrals
With your agreement, your GP or Nurse may refer you to other services not provided by the practice, or they may work with other services to provide your care in the practice. Information
will be shared by letters, emails and shared record systems. Once you have been seen, the other care agency will tell us about the treatment they have provided for you and any support which your GP needs to provide. This information is then included in your record. Referrals can be to lots of different services, such as smoking cessation services, social prescribers, voluntary services and other health and care agencies, as appropriate, for your care.

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 Oxford 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 Oxfordshire on behalf of NHS England.

Hospital, Community or Social Care Services
Sometimes the staff caring for you need to share some of your information with others who are also supporting you. This could include hospital or community based specialists, nurses, health visitors, therapists or social care services. Information will be shared to organisations where you receive care, whether that is local or further away, if you need specialist care or emergency care in another.

Shared computer systems
Health and Social care services are developing shared systems to share data efficiently and quickly. It is important for anyone treating you to be able to access your shared record so that they have all the information they need to care for you. This will be during your routine appointments and also in urgent situations such as going to A&E, calling 111 or going to an Out of hours appointment. It is also quicker for staff to access a shared record than to try to contact other staff by phone or email.

Only authorised staff can access the systems and the information they see is carefully checked so that it relates to their job. Systems do not share all your data, just data which services have
agreed is necessary to include.

Safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults
If we have significant concerns or hear about an individual child or vulnerable adult being at risk of harm, we may share relevant information with other organisations, such as local authorities and the Police, involved in ensuring their safety.

Ensuring medicines work well
We work with the local Medicines Management team of the Clinical Commissioning Group to help get the best out of medicines for patients and ensure they are effective in managing conditions. This generally uses anonymous data, but occasionally they will assist in reviews of medication for patients with complex needs. Doctors may also seek advice and guidance on prescribing queries.

Identifying health risks
Systems known as ‘risk stratification tools’ are used to help determine a person’s risk of suffering particular conditions and enable us to focus on preventing ill health before it develops. Information in these systems comes from a number of sources, such as hospitals and the practice. This can help us identify and offer you additional services to improve your health.

Multi-disciplinary team meetings
For some long term conditions, such as diabetes, the practice participates in meetings with staff from other agencies involved in providing care, to help plan the best way to provide care to patients with these conditions.

National Services (including screening programmes)
There are some national services like National Diabetes Audit and the National Cancer Screening Programmes that collect and keep information from across the NHS. This is how the NHS knows when to contact you about services like cervical, breast or bowel cancer screening. You can find out more about how the NHS holds and shares your information for national programmes on the NHS screening website (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-screening/) Data may also be shared on anyone who contracts a ‘communicable disease’, such as Covid 19, in order to manage public health and safety.

Medical student placements
Our practice is involved in the training of medical students. As part of this programme medical students will work in the practice and may be involved in your care. If staff would like a student to be present they will always ask for your permission before the start of the consultation. The treatment or care you receive will not be affected if you refuse to have a student present during
your appointment.

It is usual for GPs to discuss patient case histories as part of their continuing medical education or for the purpose of training GPs and/or medical students. In these situations the identity of the patient concerned will not be revealed.

How we use your information: beyond providing your care

The information collected about you when you use our services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:

improving the quality and standards of care
research into the development of new treatments
preventing illness and diseases
monitoring safety
planning new services
public health screening
assisting the Care Quality Commission with any investigations
investigating fraud

Wherever possible data used for these purposes is anonymised so that you cannot be identified. If information cannot be completely anonymous, then this may only take place when the law allows the information to be used. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations.

Statutory disclosures

Sometimes we are duty bound by laws to disclose information to organisations such as the Care Quality Commission, the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency, the General Medical Council, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Counter Fraud services. In these circumstances we will always try to inform you before we are required to disclose and we only disclose the minimum information that the law requires us to do so.

Objecting to the of use of data for purposes beyond your care
The NHS Constitution states ‘You have a right to request that your personal and confidential information is not used beyond your own care and treatment and to have your objections considered’. For further information please visit: The NHS Constitution

National data opt-out
The national data opt-out enables patients to opt-out from the use of their personal confidential data for research or planning purposes. To find out more or to register to opt out, please visit NHS: Your Data Matters

If you have any concerns about use of your data not covered by the National Data Opt out, please contact the practice.

How long do we hold information for?
Records are kept for the lifetime of the patient. If you move to a new practice, your record will be transferred. If the practice you have left need to access your record, for example to deal with a historic complaint, they will let you know. When information has been identified for destruction or deletion it will be disposed of using approved confidential disposal procedures.

Your rights:
Data Protection laws give you a number of rights, including access to your data, correction, erasure, objection and restriction of use of your data. Details on how to request access to your data are set out below. If you have any concerns about the accuracy and use of your records, please contact us.

Right of Access to your information (Subject Access Request)
You have the right to have a copy of the information we hold about you. There are some safeguards regarding what you will have access to and you may find information has been removed for the following reasons.

Where your doctor has decided that some information may cause significant harm to you or someone else
Where the information is about someone else (third party) and is confidential to them

You can make a request by asking or writing to the practice. We may ask you to complete a form so that we have a record of your request. You will need to provide proof of identity.

Lawful basis for processing:
The use of personal data for providing care is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest

or in the exercise of official authority…’; and

Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...

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 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:

GDPR
Data Protection Act 1998
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.

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.

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
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 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, Summary Care Record – we will assume you are happy to 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.

Your right to withdraw consent for us to share your personal information (OptOut)

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. 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.

Type 2 Opt-Out
NHS Digital collects information from a range of places where people receive care, such as hospitals and community services. If you do not want your personal confidential information to be shared outside of NHS Digital, for purposes other than for your direct care, you can register a ‘Type 2 Opt-Out’. For further information about Type 2 Opt-Outs, please contact NHS Digital Contact Centre at enquiries@hscic.gov.uk referencing ‘Type 2 Opt-Outs – Data Requests’ in the subject line; or call NHS Digital on (0300) 303 5678.

If you wish to discuss or change your opt-out preferences at any time please contact: Emily Shipway, Practice Manager

NHS Digital is developing a new system to give you more control over how your identifiable information is used. We will tell you more once details are released.

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. If you want to access your data you must make the request in writing. Under special circumstances, some information may be withheld. We may charge a reasonable fee for the administration of the request.

If you wish to have a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact: Debbie Davies, Finance and Buildings Manager using our secure online form

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

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

Complaints

If you have concerns or are unhappy about any of our services, please contact the Practice Manager, Emily Shipway via our secure online form

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 or visit the ICO website

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.

See the NHS Digital website for further 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.

See the government's website for further information

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.