What information
we hold about you
We ask you for information
about yourself so that we can give you appropriate
care and treatment. This information is
kept together with details of the care you
have received because it may be needed if
we see you again.
What we use it for
We may use this information
for reasons other than assisting your healthcare
and treatment. For example looking at issues
of public health or planning our Practice
services including:
-
Preparing statistics
on our performance for the NHS and making
sure our services meet patients’
needs (all of this involving anonimised
data)
-
Helping staff review
the care they provide to make sure it
is of the highest standard
-
Helping with health
research approved by the Local Research
Ethics Committee (this will normally
be done on an anonimised basis)
Sharing your information
with other people
Everyone one working for
the NHS has a legal duty to keep your information
confidential and anyone who receives that
information from us is bound by the same
legal duty. Within our Primary Healthcare
Team the doctors, nurses and others caring
for you use a shared record, but only access
the information they need to provide you
with care. If you are receiving care from
other people as well as the NHS we may need
to share information to enable us all to
work together for your benefit. We only
ever use or pass on information about you
if people have a genuine need for it in
your interests. Whenever we can we shall
remove details that would identify you.
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 your information to
third parties without your permission. We
will only give information to your relatives,
friends and carers if you want us to. Sometimes
the law requires us to report information
to appropriate authorities, for example,
to notify a birth or to protect the safety
of members of the public.
Our aim is 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.
Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act
1998 gives you the general right to apply
to see or have a copy of any personal information
in your health record. This is known as
the right of ‘subject access’.
If you want to see your
records you should make a written request
to your Doctor or the Practice Manager.
We are obliged to let you see the information
and also to explain any part of the record
which you do not understand. You are also
entitled to receive a copy of the information
you have seen. Please note that a small
charge may be made for administration and
time involved (click
here to see charges).
Should your doctor decide
that seeing your records might put you or
someone else at risk you may only be shown
part of your records or your request may
be declined.
Click on the link below
to view a document produced by the Patients
Association which provides comprehensive
information on accessing you records. You
will need Adobe
Acrobat to view this document.
www.patients-association.org.uk/onlinewebmanager/downloads/Medicalrecords.pdf
(PDF File 136KB)
Freedom Of Information
(FOI) Act
The Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act 2000 gives the right of access
to all types of information held by public
authorities including the NHS. From full
implementation on 1 st January 2005 it gives
the public:
- The right to be
told whether the information exists
- The right to receive
the information
It
sets out exemptions from that right
and places a number of obligations on public
authorities. The Act is fully retrospective.
The Act reflects a national
policy shift in public administration from
a culture of confidentiality to one of openness.
The underlying principle is that all information
held by a public authority should be freely
available except for a small number of tightly
defined exempt items. It seeks to balance
three rights:
- The right to information
- The right to confidentiality
- The right to effective
public administration
The Act embodies much of
what is already good practice in the NHS
as set out in the NHS Code of Openness.
The Freedom of Information Act supplements
and complements the Data Protection Act
1998, which gives individuals access to
personal information held about them. The
Freedom of Information Act does not cover
access to personal information.
From October 2003 NHS organisations
were required by the FOI Act to produce
‘Publication Schemes’ approved
by the Information Commissioner. Click
here to view our current publication scheme
(PDF file -45KB). Publication Schemes
are guides to what information the NHS will
routinely publish or intend to publish.
Requests for information under the Act should
be made in writing, which includes emails.
The request must state the name and address
of the person applying for the information
and the required information.
Public authorities generally
have 20 working days in which to respond
to a request.
The Practice will provide
advice and assistance to anyone who has
made or is thinking of making a request.
Andrew Moore is the Practices’
FOI Officer. He can be contacted as follows:
By telephone:
01803 860304 (direct) or 01803 862671 (reception)
By email: andrew.moore@nhs.net
(direct)
By fax: 01803 860309 (general
fax number)
By post: Andrew Moore,
Leatside Surgery, Babbage Road, Totnes,
TQ9 5JA
Full details of the NHS
implementation of the FOI Act can be found
at www.foi.nhs.uk
Information Commissioner
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
The Information Commissioner
enforces and oversees the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. The Commissioner is a UK independent
supervisory authority reporting directly
to the UK Parliament and has an international
role as well as a national one. |
