GDPR and Your Information

Fair Processing Notice

How we use your information
This privacy notice explains why the GP Practice collects information about you, and how that information may be used.

The Health Care Professionals (HCP) who provides you with care, maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP surgery, Community clinics or staff etc.).  These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be electronic, 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.  Records which this GP Practice may hold about you may include the following information:

  • Details about you, such as address and next of kin and carer information etc
  • Any contact the surgery has had with you such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments and so on
  • Notes and reports about your health
  • Details about your treatment and care
  • Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc.
  • Relevant information from other HCPs, relatives or those who care for you

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive.  Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS.  Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided and to plan NHS services.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes.  Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery or organisation concerned will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

Risk Stratification
Risk stratification tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risks of suffering from a particular condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventative intervention.  Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice.   A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your anonymised information using software managed by North of England Commissioning Support Service (NECS). The data is provided back to the GP Practice or member of your care team in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP Practice to focus on the prevention of ill health and not just the treatment of sickness.  If necessary, your GP Practice may be able to offer you additional services.

Should you have any concerns about how information is managed at your GP Practice, please write to the Practice Manager so you can discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited. 

Please note that you have the right to opt out of information sharing.

Invoice validation
If you have received treatment within the NHS, the NECS team may require access to your personal information in order to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) should pay for the treatment or procedure you have received.  Information will only be used to validate invoices and will not be shared for any further commissioning purposes.

How do we maintain confidentiality of your records?
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection At 1998 (which is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office), 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 has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.  Anyone who received information from an NHS organisation has a legal duty to keep it confidential.

We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times.  We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it.  We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. life or death situations) or where the law requires information to be passed on.

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
• Specialist Trusts
• Independent contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private sector providers
• Voluntary sector providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care and Health
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire & Rescue Services
• Police
• Other data processors

Access to personal information
You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view what information the surgery holds about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate.  This is known as ‘the right of subject access’.  If we do hold information about you we will:

• Give you a description of it
• Tell you why we are holding it
• Tell you who it could be disclosed to, and
• Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form

If you would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please do so in writing to the Practice Manager.

Summary Care Records (SCR)

The Summary Care Record is a national scheme to share information about the medicines you are prescribed and any allergies or other adverse reactions you have experienced. Health Professionals at other organisations will only be able to access this information with your permission. You can opt-out of the scheme … please ask at the surgery if you need more information or follow the appropriate link on our website.

Summary Care Record with Additional Information

This is a national scheme to share more detailed information including your current medical problems and your care wishes. Health Professionals at other organisations will only be able to access this information with your permission. This information will only be available to other agencies if you have given us your permission to share it.

Great North Care record (GNCR)

A local initiative to share medical information in the North East. The information shared is similar to that in the Summary Care Record with Additional Information. Health Professionals at other organisations will only be able to access this information with your permission. This information will be shared unless you tell us in writing that you don’t want us to share it. You can opt-out of this scheme – please ask at the surgery.

National Diabetes Audit (NDA)

This is a national project about diabetes care and treatment in the NHS. 

Your right to withdraw consent

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this Fair Processing Notice, then you do not need to do anything.

If you do not want your personal data being extracted and used for the purposes described in this Fair Processing Notice, then you need to let us know as soon as possible in writing to the Practice Manager. 

Please note that withdrawing your consent from sharing data may, in some circumstances, cause a delay in your receiving care.