Privacy Policy

Practice fair processing and 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 in respect 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 patient 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;
• 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 is it received directly from you or from a third party in relation to the 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 includes, but is not limited to name, date of birth, full postcode, address, next of kin and NHS 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, treatments, results of investigations, supportive 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 (e.g. from an acute hospital, GP surgery, community care provider, mental health care provider, walk-in centre, social services). These records may be electronic, a paper record or a mixture of both. We use a combination of technologies and working practices to ensure that we keep your information secure and confidential.

Why do we collect this information?

The NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the health service in England, improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training. To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with current data protection legislation to:

• 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;
• Perform tasks in the public’s interest;
• Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research;
• Manage the health and social care system and services.

How is the information collected?

Your information will be collected either electronically using secure NHS Mail or a secure electronic transferred over an NHS encrypted network connection. In addition physical information will be sent to your practice. This information will be retained within your GP’s electronic patient record or within your physical medical records.

Who will we share your information with?

In order to deliver and coordinate your health and social care, we may share information with the following organisations:

• Local GP Practices in order to deliver extended primary care services
• NHS Service Providers
• 111 and Out of Hours Service
• Local Social Services and Community Care services
• Voluntary Support Organisations commissioned to provide services by local CCG

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.

Your information will not be transferred outside of the European Union.

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 your GP can provide the appropriate care.

[In addition we received data from NHS Digital (as directed by the Department of Health) such as the uptake of flu vaccinations and disease prevalence in order to assist us to improve “out of hospital care”.]

National data opt-out programme

The national data opt-out programme affords patients the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether they wish their confidential patient information to be used just for their individual care and treatment or also used for research and planning purposes.

Patients who wish to opt out of data collection will be able to set their national data opt-out choice online (https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/). An alternative provision will be made for those patients who are unable to do so or who do not want to use the online system.

Individuals who have opted out using the existing Type 2 opt-out will be automatically transferred to the new national data opt-out system and will be notified on an individual basis of the change. Should any queries arise regarding the national data opt-out programme, The Heath Surgery will email the query to the national data opt-out enquiries mailbox: newoptoutenquiries@nhs.net

Lincolnshire EACH Referral Service Privacy Statement:

The purpose of the Lincolnshire EACH Referral Service is to support the referrals process and ensure that patients are cared for in the right setting at the right time. The service facilitates the patient referral process – from initial GP referral to first outpatient appointment. It supports the majority of routine and urgent GP referrals although there will be some CCG specific specialty exclusions – all 2ww and non-elective/emergencies are excluded from this service.

iGPR Technologies Limited

We use a processor, iGPR Technologies Limited (“iGPR”), to assist us with responding to report requests relating to your patient data, such as subject access requests that you submit to us (or that someone acting on your behalf submits to us) and report requests that insurers submit to us under the Access to Medical Records Act 1988 in relation to a life insurance policy that you hold or that you are applying for.

iGPR manages the reporting process for us by reviewing and responding to requests in accordance with our instructions and all applicable laws, including UK data protection laws.

The instructions we issue to iGPR include general instructions on responding to requests and specific instructions on issues that will require further consultation with the GP responsible for your 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 an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. We maintain our duty of confidentiality by conducting annual training and awareness, ensuring 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 is necessary. We will hold your information in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016.

Consent and Objections

Do I need to give my consent?

The GDPR sets a high standard for consent. Consent means offering people genuine choice and control over how their data is used. When consent is used properly, it helps you build trust and enhance your reputation. 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 to any time for any particular instance of processing, provided consent is the legal basis for the processing. Please contact your GP Practice for further information and to raise your objection.

Health Risk Screening / Risk Stratification

Health Risk Screening or Risk Stratification is a process that helps your GP to determine whether you are at risk of an unplanned admission or deterioration in health. By using selected information such as age, gender, NHS number, diagnosis, existing long term condition(s), medication history, patterns of hospital attendances, admissions and periods of access to community care your GP will be able to judge if you are likely to need more support and care from time to time, or if the right services are in place to support the local population’s needs.

To summarise Risk Stratification is used in the NHS to:

• Help decide if a patient is at a greater risk of suffering from a particular condition;
• Prevent an emergency admission;
• Identify if a patient needs medical help to prevent a health condition from getting worse;
• Review and amend provision of current health and social care services.

Your GP will use computer based algorithms or calculations to identify their registered patients who are at most risk, with support from the local Commissioning Support Unit and/or a third party accredited Risk Stratification provider. The risk stratification contracts are arranged by your local CCG in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement. Neither the CSU nor your local CCG will at any time have access to your personal or confidential data. They will Page 5 of 9 only act on behalf of your GP to organise the risk stratification service with appropriate contractual technical and security measures in place.

Your GP will routinely conduct the risk stratification process outside of your GP appointment. This process is conducted electronically and without human intervention. The resulting report is then reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of staff within the Practice. This may result in contact being made with you if alterations to the provision of your care are identified.

A Section 251 Agreement is where the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has granted permission for personal data to be used for the purposes of risk stratification, in acknowledgement that it would overburden the NHS to conduct manual reviews of all patient registers held by individual providers.

As mentioned above, you have the right to object to your information being used in this way. However you should be aware that your objection may have a negative impact on the timely and proactive provision of your direct care. Please contact the Practice Manager to discuss how disclosure of your personal data can be limited. Sharing of Electronic Patient Records within the NHS Electronic patient records are kept in most places where you receive healthcare. Our local electronic systems (such as SystmOne, EMIS and Eclipse) enables your record to be shared with organisations involved in your direct care, such as: 

• GP practices
• Community services such as district nurses, rehabilitation services, telehealth and out of hospital services.
• Child health services that undertake routine treatment or health screening
• Urgent care organisations, minor injury units or out of hours services
• Community hospitals
• Palliative care hospitals
• Care Homes
• Mental Health Trusts
• Hospitals
• Social Care organisations
• Pharmacies

In addition, NHS England have implemented the Summary Care Record which contains information including medication you are taking and any bad reactions to medication that you have had in the past.

In most cases, particularly for patients with complex conditions and care arrangements, the shared electronic health record plays a vital role in delivering the best care and a coordinated response, taking into account all aspects of a person’s physical and mental health. Many patients are understandably not able to provide a full account of their care, or may not be in a position to do so. The shared record means patients do not have to repeat their medical history at every care setting.

Your record will be automatically setup to be shared with the organisations listed above, however you have the right to ask your GP to disable this function or restrict access to specific elements of your record. This will mean that the information recorded by your GP will not be visible at any other care setting.

You can also reinstate your consent at any time by giving your permission to override your previous dissent.

Invoice Validation

If you have received treatment within the NHS, the local Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) may require access to your personal information to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for payment for the treatment or procedures you have received.

Information such as your name, address, date of treatment and associated treatment code may be passed onto the CSU to enable them to process the bill. These details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information is only used to validate invoices in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement, and will not be shared for any further commissioning 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 has delivered your treatment and care. You should however be aware that some details within your health records may be exempt from disclosure, however this will in the interests of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party. If you would like access to your GP record please submit your request in writing to:

The Practice Manager, Heath Surgery, London Road, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2LA

Complaints

In the event that your feel your GP Practice has not complied with the current data protection legislation, either in responding to your request or in our general processing of your personal information, you should raise your concerns in the first instance in writing to the Practice Manager at:

Heath Surgery, London Road, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2LA

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wimslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Enquiry Line: 01625 545700 or online at www.ico.gov.uk

COVID-19 AND YOUR INFORMATION

SUPPLEMENTARY PRIVACY NOTE ON COVID-19

This notice describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak. It supplements and is to be read alongside our standard Privacy Notice.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health and social care services and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the outbreak. In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations.

Existing law which allows confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully in a public health emergency is being used during this outbreak. The Secretary of State has served notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI) to require NHS Digital; NHS England and Improvement; Arms Length Bodies (such as Public Health England); local authorities; health organisations and GPs to share confidential patient information to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. Any information used or shared during the Covid-19 outbreak will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis to use the data. The COPI notice is currently in place until 30 September 2021. Further information is available on gov.uk here and some FAQs on this law are available here.

To support the response to the outbreak, NHS Digital has been legally directed to collect and analyse healthcare information about patients from their GP record for the duration of the coronavirus emergency period using the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES).

NHS Digital will analyse the data and securely and lawfully share data with other appropriate organisations described below for coronavirus response purposes only. These purposes include:

• carrying out vital research into treatments and vaccines for the virus, including clinical trials
• identifying coronavirus trends and risks to public health
• diagnosing and monitoring the effects of coronavirus
• controlling and helping to prevent the spread of the virus
• planning and providing health, social care and other public services in response to coronavirus (COVID-19)
• helping clinicians, scientists, public health bodies and the government to provide guidance and develop policies to respond to the outbreak
• monitoring and managing the outbreak

NHS Digital is the controller of the personal data collected and analysed above jointly with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has directed NHS Digital to collect, analyse and in certain circumstances disseminate this data under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020 (COVID-19 Directions).

Data may be analysed and linked to other data held by NHS Digital, or held by other organisations to which access to the data is granted for COVID-19 purposes. Data will be collected nationally from all GP Practices by NHS Digital every fortnight.

All GP practices in England are legally required to share data with NHS Digital for this purpose under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The data to be collected will include information about patients who are currently registered with a GP practice or who have a date of death on or after 1 November 2019 whose record contains coded information relevant to coronavirus planning and research.

It will not include details for any patient who has registered a Type 1 objection with their GP practice. Where a Type 1 objection has been registered, your GP practice will not share your personal identifiable confidential information outside of the GP practice, except when it is being used for the purposes of your care and treatment

More information on this collection of data can be found here:

https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/gpes-data-for-pandemic-planning-andresearch/transparency-notice-gpes-data-for-pandemic-planning-and-research-covid-19

During this period of emergency, opt-outs will not generally apply to the data used to support the Covid-19 outbreak, due to the public interest in sharing information. This includes National Data Opt-outs. However, in relation to the Summary Care Record, existing choices will be respected. Where data is used and shared under these laws your right to have personal data erased will also not apply. It may also take us longer to respond to Subject Access requests, Freedom of Information requests and new opt-out requests whilst we focus our efforts on responding to the outbreak.

In order to look after your health and care needs we may share your confidential patient information including health and care records with clinical and non clinical staff in other health and care providers, for example neighbouring GP practices, hospitals and NHS 111. We may also use the details we have to send public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email.

During this period of emergency we may offer you a consultation via telephone or video conferencing. By accepting the invitation and entering the consultation you are consenting to this. Your personal/confidential patient information will be safeguarded in the same way it would with any other consultation.

We will also be required to share personal/confidential patient information with health and care organisations and other bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the outbreak. Further information about how health and care data is being used and shared by other NHS and social care organisations in a variety of ways to support the Covid-19 response is here.

NHS England and Improvement and NHSX have developed a single, secure store to gather data from across the health and care system to inform the Covid-19 response. This includes data already collected by NHS England, NHS Improvement, Public Health England and NHS Digital. New data will include 999 call data, data about hospital occupancy and A&E capacity data as well as data provided by patients themselves. All the data held in the platform is subject to strict controls that meet the requirements of data protection legislation.

In such circumstances where you tell us you’re experiencing Covid-19 symptoms we may need to collect specific health data about you. Where we need to do so, we will not collect more information than we require and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

Covid-19 Vaccinations

Covid-19 vaccinations are being delivered according to priority groups identified by the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The vaccinations may not take place at your GP practice, but rather a local vaccination service (led by GPs, practice nurses and Page 9 of 9 community pharmacists) who are responsible for delivering the vaccine to people in your community.

Patients eligible for a Covid-19 vaccination will be contacted via a centralised booking service, managed by the GP Federation, Connect Healthcare Rotherham CIC on behalf of the Primary Care Networks in Rotherham, or the practice itself. All data held and accessed in the delivery of the booking service will be treated with the appropriate safeguards.

NHS England is responsible for processing your personal data for the purposes of the national vaccination programme. To find out more, you can access the privacy notice at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/national-flu-vaccination-programme/ or search for “NHS England Privacy Notice” in your browser.

We may amend this privacy notice at any time so please review it frequently. The date at the bottom of this page will be amended each time this notice is updated.

January 2024

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