Confidentiality of Your Record
Our Aim
To ensure that any records we have about you are accurate, secure, held in confidence and only accessed on a STRICTLY need to know basis.
What information do we hold about you?
We ask you for information about yourself so that we can give you appropriate treatment. This information is kept, together with details of the care you receive, because it may be needed if we see you again.
What do we use it for?
In the first place, for assisting your health care and treatment. Other reasons include looking after the health of the general public and helping to plan and manage the resources of the NHS including:
- making sure services meet patients' needs in the future
- preparing statistics on the practice's performance
- investigating complaints or legal claims
- holding some information centrally by the Department of Health, such as the NHS Central Register which contains basic details of all patients registered with a General Practitioner
- helping us to review the care we provide to ensure that it is of the highest quality
- research approved by the Local Medical Research Ethics Committee: this sort of research will normally be done on an anonymised basis and you will always be asked for permission to use your record in this way (e.g. Diabetes Research)
Will it be kept in a confidential way?
Everyone working for the NHS and in General Practice has a legal, ethical and contractual duty to keep information confidential.
Can you see your own record?
The Data Protection Act (2018) gives you the right to see, or have a copy made of, any personal information held in your health record.
The Access to Health Records Act (1990) gives a patient's representative the right to access the health records of a patient if he/she has passed away. However, access will not be given to any part of the record which, in the GP's opinion, would disclose information which is not relevant to any claim which may arise out of the patient's death.
If you want to see your record, please talk to your Doctor who will assist you in doing this. If you would like a copy of your record, please make a written request: there is an administrative charge for this service.
Will your information be shared with anyone?
If you are receiving care from another source within the NHS such as a Hospital Consultant or a District Nurse, any relevant information will be shared with them.
If you are receiving care from people outside the NHS, such as a Social Worker, we may need to share information to enable us all to work together for your benefit. We only ever use or pass on information if people have a genuine need for it in your best interest. You will always be asked for your consent to this.
The sharing of some information is strictly controlled by law. So unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the safety of others is at risk, we will not disclose such information to third parties without your permission.
Sometimes the law requires us to report information to an appropriate authority, e.g. to notify a birth.
Whenever possible, we will remove details that would identify you.
Further Information
If you have any further queries about confidentiality, please speak to your Doctor or the Practice Manager.
If you wish to speak to a member of the team privately then please speak to the receptionist who will make the necessary arrangements.