Anonymised information

NHS Digital legal basis for collecting, analysing and sharing patient data.

When we collect, analyse, publish and share patient data, there are strict laws in place that we must follow. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this includes explaining to you what legal provisions apply under GDPR that allows us to process patient data. The GDPR protects everyone's data.

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NHS Digital has been directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care under the General Organisation Data for Planning and Research Directions 2021 to collect and analyse data from GP Organisations for health and social care purposes including policy, planning, commissioning, public health and research purposes.

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NHS Digital is the controller of the patient data collected and analysed under the GDPR jointly with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

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All GP Organisations in England are legally required to share data with NHS Digital for this purpose under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (2012 Act). More information about this requirement is contained in the Data Provision Notice issued by NHS Digital to GP Organisations.

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NHS Digital has various powers to publish anonymous statistical data and to share patient data under sections 260 and 261 of the 2012 Act. It also has powers to share data under other Acts, for example the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

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Regulation 3 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI) also allow confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully in a public health emergency. The Secretary of State has issued legal notices under COPI (COPI Notices) requiring NHS Digital, NHS England and Improvement, arm's-length bodies (such as Public Health England), local authorities, NHS trusts, Integrated Care Boards and GP Organisations 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 confidential patient information. 

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The legal basis under UKGDPR for General Organisation Data for Planning and Research

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How NHS Digital use patient data

NHS Digital will analyse and link the patient data we collect with other patient data we hold to create national data sets and for data quality purposes.

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NHS Digital will be able to use the de-identification software to convert the unique codes back to data that could directly identify you in certain circumstances for these purposes, where this is necessary and where there is a valid legal reason. There are strict internal approvals which need to be in place before we can do this and this will be subject to independent scrutiny and oversight by the Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD).

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These national data  sets are analysed and used by NHS Digital to produce national statistics and management information, including public dashboards about health and social care which are published. We never publish any patient data that could identify you. All data we publish is anonymous statistical data.

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For more information about data we publish see Data and Information and Data Dashboards.

We may also carry out analysis on national data sets for data quality purposes and to support the work of others for the purposes set out in Our purposes for processing patient data section above.

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Who NHS Digital share patient data with

All data which is shared by NHS Digital is subject to robust rules relating to privacy, security and confidentiality and only the minimum amount of data necessary to achieve the relevant health and social care purpose will be shared.

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All requests to access patient data from this collection, other than anonymous aggregate statistical data, will be assessed by NHS Digital’s Data Access Request Service, to make sure that organisations have a legal basis to use the data and that it will be used safely, securely and appropriately.

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These requests for access to patient data will also be subject to independent scrutiny and oversight by the Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD). Organisations approved to use this data will be required to enter into a data sharing agreement with NHS Digital regulating the use of the data.

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There are a number of organisations who are likely to need access to different elements of patient data from the General Organisation Data for Planning and Research collection. These include but may not be limited to:

• The Department of Health and Social Care and its executive agencies, including Public Health England and other government departments

• NHS England and NHS Improvement

• Primary care networks (PCNs), Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and integrated care organisations (ICOs)

• Local authorities

• Research organisations, including universities, charities, clinical research organisations that run clinical trials and pharmaceutical companies

If the request is approved, the data will either be made available within a secure data access environment within NHS Digital infrastructure, or where the needs of the recipient cannot be met this way, as a direct dissemination of data. We plan to reduce the amount of data being processed outside central, secure data environments and increase the data we make available to be accessed via our secure data access environment. For more information read about improved data access in improving our data processing services.

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Data will always be shared in the uniquely coded form (de-personalised data in the diagram above) unless in the circumstances of any specific request it is necessary for it to be provided in an identifiable form (personally identifiable data in the diagram above). For example, when express patient consent has been given to a researcher to link patient data from the General Organisation for Planning and Research collection to data the researcher has already obtained from the patient.

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It is therefore possible for NHS Digital to convert the unique codes back to data that could directly identify you in certain circumstances, and where there is a valid legal reason which permits this without breaching the common law duty of confidentiality. This would include:

• Where the data was needed by a health professional for your own care and treatment

• Where you have expressly consented to this, for example to participate in a clinical trial

• Where there is a legal obligation, for example where the COPI Notices apply - see Our legal basis for collecting, analysing and sharing patient data above for more information on this

• Where approval has been provided by the Health Research Authority or the Secretary of State with support from the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) under Regulation 5 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI) - this is sometimes known as a ‘section 251 approval’

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This would mean that the data was personally identifiable in the diagram above. Re-identification of the data would only take place following approval of the specific request through the Data Access Request Service, and subject to independent assurance by IGARD and consultation with the Professional Advisory Group, which is made up of representatives from the BMA and the RCGP. If you have registered a National Data Opt-out, this would be applied in accordance with the National Data Opt-out policy before any identifiable patient data (personally identifiable data in the diagram above) about you was shared. More about the National Data Opt-out is in the section below.

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Details of who we have shared data with, in what form and for what purposes are published on our data release register.

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Where NHS digital stores patient data

NHS Digital only stores and processes patient data for this data collection within the United Kingdom (UK).

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Fully anonymous data (that does not allow you to be directly or indirectly identified), for example statistical data that is published, may be stored and processed outside of the UK. Some of our processors may process patient data outside of the UK. If they do, we will always ensure that the transfer outside of the UK complies with data protection laws.

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Where do we store your information electronically?

All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.

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No 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in place such as a Data Processor as above).  We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special category (sensitive, confidential) data.

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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 / Foundation Trusts

• GP’s

• Primary Care Network

• NHS Commissioning Support Units

• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists

• Private Sector Providers

• Voluntary Sector Providers

• Ambulance Trusts

• Integrated Care Boards

• Social Care Services

• NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)

• Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

• Local Authorities

• Education Services

• Fire and Rescue Services

• Police & Judicial Services

• Voluntary Sector Providers

• Private Sector Providers

• Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of

 

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for consent for this to happen when this is required.

 

Computer System

This Organisation operates a Clinical Computer System on which NHS Staff record information securely.  This information can then be shared with other clinicians so that everyone caring for you is fully informed about your medical history, including allergies and medication.

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To provide around the clock safe care, unless you have asked us not to, we will make information available to our Partner Organisation (above).  Wherever possible, their staff will ask your consent before your information is viewed.

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Shared Care Records

To support your care and improve the sharing of relevant information to our partner organisations (as above) when they are involved in looking after you, we will share information to other systems.  You can opt out of this sharing of your records with our partners at anytime if this sharing is based on your consent. 

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We may also use external companies to process personal information, such as for archiving purposes. These companies are bound by contractual agreements to ensure information is kept confidential and secure.  All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our Organisation are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for Ruchcliffe PCN an appropriate contract (art 24-28) will be established for the processing of your information.

 

Sharing your information without consent

We will normally ask you for your consent, but there are times when we may be required by law to share your information without your consent, for example:

• Where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people;

• Safeguarding matters and investigations

• Where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented;

• Notification of new births;

• Where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS);

• Where a formal court order has been issued;

• Where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence.

 

How long will we store your information?

We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records management code of Organisation for health and social care and national archives requirements.

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More information on records retention can be found online at (https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Organisation-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016).

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How can you access, amend move the personal data that you have given to us?

Even if we already hold your personal data, you still have various rights in relation to it. To get in touch about these, please contact us. We will seek to deal with your request without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of any applicable laws. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.

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Right to object: If we are using your data and you do not agree, you have the right to object. We will respond to your request within one month (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases). This is NOT an absolute right sometimes we will need to process your data even if you object.

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Right to withdraw consent: Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities (for example for a research project, or consent to send you information about us or matters you may be interested in), you may withdraw your consent at any time.

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Right to erasure: In certain situations (for example, where we have processed your data unlawfully), you have the right to request us to "erase" your personal data. We will respond to your request within one month (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases) and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will delete your data but will need to keep a note of your name/ other basic details on our register of individuals who would prefer not to be contacted. This enables us to avoid contacting you in the future where your data are collected in unconnected circumstances. If you would prefer us not to do this, you are free to say so.

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Right of data portability: If you wish, you have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller. We will help with this with a GP to GP data transfer and transfer of your hard copy notes.

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Primary Care Network

The objective of primary care networks (PCNs) is for group Organisations together to create more collaborative workforces which ease the pressure of GP’s, leaving them better able to focus on patient care.

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This Organisation is a member of Rushcliffe PCN.

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Primary Care Networks form a key building block of the NHS long-term plan. Bringing general Organisations together to work at scale has been a policy priority for some years for a range of reasons, including improving the ability of Organisations to recruit and retain staff; to manage financial and estates pressures; to provide a wider range of services to patients and to more easily integrate with the wider health and care system. 

 

This means the Organisation may share your information with other Organisations within the PCN to provide you with your care and treatment.

 

Service Evaluation

 

The PCN carries out service evaluations in order to improve the quality and accessibility of primary care services. This may be carried out in a number of ways including telephone surveys, online surveys and interviews.

 

The legal basis for contacting you to take part -  

• Article 6, e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;”

• Article 9, (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive 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

 

To process the survey information, we collect from you we will only do so with your consent.

• Article 6(1)(a)  - Consent of the data subject (you)

• Article 9(2)(a) – Explicit consent of the data subject. (you)’

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Population Health Management

Population Health Management (or PHM for short) is aimed at improving the health of an entire population.  The PHM approach requires health care organisations to work together with communities and partner agencies, for example, GP Organisations, community service providers, hospitals and other health and social care providers.   These organisations will share and combine information with each other in order to get a view of health and services for the population in a particular area. This information sharing is subject to robust security arrangements.

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As part of this programme, personal data about your health care will have all identifiers removed (like your name or NHS Number) and replaced with a code which will be linked to information about care received in different health care settings.  If we see that an individual might benefit from some additional care or support, we will send the information back to your GP or hospital provider and they will use the code to identify you and offer you relevant services. 

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As part of this programme your GP and other care providers will send the information they hold on their systems to the North Of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS).  NECS are part of NHS England. More information can be found here https://www.necsu.nhs.uk

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NECS will link all the information together. Your GP and other care providers will then review this information and make decisions about the whole population or particular patients that might need additional support.  NECS work in partnership with a company called Optum to help them with this work.  Both NECS and Optum are legally obliged to protect your information and maintain confidentiality in the same way that your GP or hospital provider is. More information about Optum can be found here www.optum.co.uk.

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Health and Social Care Providers are permitted by data protection law to use personal information where it is ‘necessary for medical purposes’. This includes caring for you directly as well as management of health services more generally.

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The PHM project is time-limited to 22 weeks.  Once the project has completed all de-identified , information processed by NECS / Optum will be securely destroyed.  This will not affect any personal information held by your GP or other health or social care providers.

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Access to your personal information 

Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR): You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. To request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request should be made to the Organisation. (For information from a hospital or other Trust/ NHS organisation you should write direct to them.

• There is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you

• We are required to provide you with information within one month 

• You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records located information we hold about you at any time.

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What should you do if your personal information changes?

You should tell us so that we can update our records please contact the Organisation Manager as soon as any of your details change, this is especially important for changes of address or contact details (such as your mobile phone number), the Organisation will from time to time ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up-to-date.

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Online Access

You may ask us if you wish to have online access to your medical record. However, there will be certain protocols that we have to follow to give you online access, including written consent and the production of documents that prove your identity.

Please note that when we give you online access, the responsibility is yours to make sure that you keep your information safe and secure if you do not wish any third party to gain access.

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Third parties mentioned on your medical record

Sometimes we record information about third parties mentioned by you to us during any consultation, or contained in letters we receive from other organisations. We are under an obligation to make sure we also protect that third party’s rights as an individual and to ensure that references to them which may breach their rights to confidentiality, are removed before we send any information to any other party including yourself.

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The NHS wants to give people better ways to see their personal health information online. We know that people want to be able to access their health records. It can help you see test results faster. It also lets you read and review notes from your appointments in your own time.

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From 01/112022 we’re now letting you see all the information within your health record automatically. If you are over 16 and have an online account, such as through the NHS App, NHS website, or another online primary care service, you will now be able to see all future notes and health records from your doctor (GP). Some people can already access this feature, this won’t change for you.

 

This means that you will be able to see notes from your appointments, as well as test results and any letters that are saved on your records. This only applies to records from your doctor (GP), not from hospitals or other specialists. You will only be able to see information from [insert date that your Organisation will make the change]. For most people, access will be automatic, and you won’t need to do anything.

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Your doctor (GP) may talk to you to discuss test results before you are able to see some of your information on the app. Your doctor (GP) may also talk to you before your full records access is given to make sure that having access is of benefit to you. There might be some sensitive information on your record, so you should talk to your doctor if you have any concerns.

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These changes only apply to people with online accounts. If you do not want an online account, you can still access your health records by requesting this information through reception. The changes also only apply to personal information about you. If you are a carer and would like to see information about someone you care for, speak to reception staff.

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The NHS App, website and other online services are all very secure, so no one is able to access your information except you. You’ll need to make sure you protect your login details. Don’t share your password with anyone as they will then have access to your personal information.

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If you do not want to see your health record, or if you would like more information about these changes, please speak to your GP or reception staff.

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Our website

The only website this Privacy Notice applies to is the Surgery’s website. If you use a link to any other website from the Surgery’s website then you will need to read their respective Privacy Notice. We take no responsibility (legal or otherwise) for the content of other websites.

The Surgery’s website uses cookies. For more information on which cookies we use and how we use them, please see our Cookies Policy.

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CCTV recording

CCTV is installed on our Organisation premises covering both the external area of the building and the internal area excluding consulting rooms. Images are held to improve the personal security of patients and staff whilst on the premises, and for the prevention and detection of crime. The images are recorded onto an integral hard drive of the equipment and are overwritten on a rolling basis. Viewing of these digital images is password protected and controlled by the Organisation Manager.

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Telephone system

Our telephone system records all telephone calls.  Recordings are retained for up to three years, and are used periodically for the purposes of seeking clarification where there is a dispute as to what was said and for staff training Access to these recordings is restricted to named senior staff.

 

Medical Examiner Service

Following the death of any patients of Ruchcliffe PCN  we are now obliged to inform [Provider Trust] NHS Trust, Medical Examiner Service.

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Medical examiner offices at acute trusts now provide independent scrutiny of non-coronial deaths occurring in acute hospitals.  The role of these offices is now being extended to also cover deaths occurring in the community.

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Medical examiner offices are led by medical examiners, senior doctors from a range of specialties including general Organisation, who provide independent scrutiny of deaths not taken at the outset for coroner investigation. They put the bereaved at the centre of processes after the death of a patient, by giving families and next of kin an opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns. Medical examiners carry out a proportionate review of medical records, and liaise with doctors completing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).

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The Organisation will share any patient with the service upon request.

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Objections / Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the GP, please contact the GP Organisation Manager or the Data Protection Officer as above. If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP Organisation, you have a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have a right to complain to the UK supervisory Authority as below.

 

Information Commissioner:

Wycliffe house

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire 

SK9 5AF

 

Tel: 01625 545745

https://ico.org.uk/

 

If you are happy for your data to be used for the purposes described in this privacy notice, then you do not need to do anything.  If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, then please contact the Organisation Data Protection Officer. 

If you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you, please contact the Data Protection Officer as below.

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Data Protection Officer:

The Organisation Data Protection Officer is Paul Couldrey of PCIG Consulting Limited. Any queries regarding Data Protection issues should be addressed to him at: -

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Email: Couldrey@me.com

Postal:             PCIG Consulting Limited

                        7 Westacre Drive

                        Quarry Bank

                        Dudley

                        West Midlands

                        DY5 2EE

 

Changes:

It is important to point out that we may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time.  If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our Privacy Notice, please contact the Organisation Data Protection Officer.