Privacy notice
As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are safe, transparent and what you would reasonably expect. Please find documents and links below.
Privacy_Notice_The_Grove_Medical_Practice
How we use your information to support your care
This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you, and how that information may be used.
The health and social care professionals who provide you with your care maintain records about your health social care needs, as well as any treatment or care you may have received previously.
These records allow them to assess your health and care needs, decide what help or treatment is right for you and provide you with the best possible care.
Your records may include the following information:
• Details about you, such as address, date of birth and next of kin
• Any contact that we have had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes reports and assessments about your health and social care needs
• 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.
Different health and care professionals involved in your care may make their own notes, so you may have care records in different parts of the NHS and social care services.
These records may be electronic, held 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.
We may use your information to pay your GP, care provider, dentist or hospital for the care they provide; to make sure you receive quality care; to train and teach health and social care professionals; and for local auditing of NHS services and accounts.
We may also use your information to investigate incidents and complaints. If you are unhappy with your care, having a record of what has taken place means your concerns can be properly investigated.
Sharing information to improve your care
We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. This may include when you need to see another doctor, be referred to a specialist or other health and social care provider. Health and social care organisations across Barnsley are committed to working together to provide joined-up integrated care. To make sure this happens they may create joint records on your behalf or share your information to make sure they provide safe effective care.
You may receive care from other organisations as well as the NHS and Social Services. We may need to share some information about you so we can all work together for your benefit. These partner organisations are listed in the section below called “Who are our partner organisations”.
In Barnsley, a population health management programme has been introduced to use linked data from primary, secondary and community care to understand population health more effectively. This only uses pseudonymised data i.e., where information that identifies you has been removed and replaced with a pseudonym. This will only ever be reidentified if we discover that you may benefit from a particular health intervention, in which case only the relevant staff within your practice will be able to see your personal information to offer this service to you.
To carry out this data linkage, your pseudonymised data will be passed to the North of England Commissioning Support Unit, who are part of NHS England, who will link this to other local and national data sources to be able to carry out appropriate analyses. These linked datasets will also be securely shared with Optum and your Clinical Commissioning Group to carry out any further analysis needed to support improvements to the local populations health and to target health and social care resources effectively.
Only a small number of staff based within these UK based organisations will be able to access this data and as this will be pseudonymised in accordance with the ICO Anonymisation Code of Practice, no one will be able to identify you within these organisations.
You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.
To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters
Your consent to share information
At any time you have the right to refuse or withdraw consent to information sharing. The possible consequences will be fully explained to you and could include delays in identifying and providing the most appropriate care.
For more information or if you have any questions or concerns regarding the information we hold and how it will be used then please contact the practice on 01226 288651.
Keeping your information private
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, and the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security.
Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation or social services has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. Anyone who receives information from an NHS organisation or social services has a legal duty to keep it confidential.
We will not disclose your information to third parties without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when or the health and safety of you or others is at risk, or where or where the law requires information to be passed on.
Ways we may communicate with you
We may need to contact you for a variety of reasons including to:
• Offer you a new appointment or alter an existing one
• Send you a reminder of an existing appointment
• Arrange for transport to be provided
• Ask your opinion of our services
• Inform you of other health and social care services (such as Flu Jabs)
Ours standard way to contact you is by letter or telephone. We may additionally use automated telephone calls, email, SMS text messaging and where appropriate social media. If you do not wish to be contacted by any of these additional methods please inform a member of the reception team or call the practice on 01226 288651.
Who are our partner organisations?
Where it is in your interest to do so or when we are required to, we may also share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:
• NHS Trusts
• Other General Practitioners (GPs)
• Local Authorities (including Social Care and Education Services)
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Other ‘data processors’ working on behalf of the NHS and Local Authorities
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers working on behalf of or with the NHS and Local Authorities
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police Services
• Governmental Regulators.
Risk Stratification (Patient Segmentation)
Your information from health and social care records is looked at anonymously by your local NHS CCG, alongside that of others patients, to identify groups of patients who would benefit from some additional help from their GP or care team. This is known as ‘Risk Stratification.’
The aim is to prevent ill health and possible future hospital stays, rather than wait for you to become sick. Only the GP/care team is able to see who actually requires additional help and all processing of information is carried out under strict rules to make sure this is the case.
More Information on Sharing
Your anonymised information may also be used to help us:
• Look after the health of the wider public
• Audit NHS accounts and services
• Investigate complaints, legal claims or untoward incidents
• Make sure our services can meet service user and carer needs in the future
• Prepare statistics on NHS performance
• Review the care we provide to ensure it is of the highest standard
• Teach and train health and social care professionals
• Conduct health research and development.
Where we use your information to gather statistics we will make sure that you cannot be identified from this information and that all individuals remain anonymous.
We may provide anonymous statistical information to organisations with a legitimate interest, including universities, community safety units and research institutions.
Where there is a request to use your personal confidential data, such as for research purposes this will only be approved after obtaining your consent.
Accessing Your Own Information
The Data Protection Act allows you to access information that is held about you, and you are able to either view or obtain copies of records held in electronic or paper format.
This is known as the “right of subject access”. It applies to all your records held by us. If you want to review records you should make a request to your care team or where you are being, or have been, treated.
You are entitled to receive a copy of your information but should note that a charge will usually be made. In special circumstances your right to see some details in your health records may be limited, to protect you and others mentioned in your records from harm, and to maintain the confidentiality of others.
