Privacy Notice: How Your Information Is Used

 

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How The Ridgeway Surgery uses your information to provide you with healthcare

This practice keeps medical records confidential and complies with the General Data Protection Regulation.

We hold your medical record so that we can provide you with safe care and treatment. 

We will also use your information so that this practice can check and review the quality of the care we provide. This helps us to improve our services to you. 

  • We will share relevant information from your medical record with other health or social care staff or organisations when they provide you with care. For example, your GP will share information when they refer you to a specialist in a hospital. Or your GP will send details about your prescription to your chosen pharmacy. 
  • Healthcare staff working in A&E and out of hours care will also have access to your information. For example, it is important that staff who are treating you in an emergency know if you have any allergic reactions. This will involve the use of your Summary Care Record. Find out more about SCR by clicking here or alternatively speak to your practice. 
  • You have the right to object to information being shared for your own care. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected
 

Other important information about how your information is used to provide you with healthcare

Registering for NHS care

  • All patients who receive NHS care are registered on a national database. 
  • This database holds your name, address, date of birth and NHS Number but it does not hold information about the care you receive. 
  • The database is held by NHS Digital, a national organisation which has legal responsibilities to collect NHS data.
  • More information can be found here or the phone number for general enquires at NHS Digital is 0300 303 5678
 

Identifying patients who might be at risk of certain diseases

  • Your medical records will be searched by a computer programme so that we can identify patients who might be at high risk from certain diseases such as heart disease or unplanned admissions to hospital. 
  • This means we can offer patients additional care or support as early as possible. 
  • This process will involve linking information from your GP record with information from other health or social care services you have used. 
  • Information which identifies you will only be seen by this practice.
  • More information please speak to the practice. 
 

Safeguarding 

  • Sometimes we need to share information so that other people, including healthcare staff, children or others with safeguarding needs, are protected from risk of harm. 
  • These circumstances are rare. 
  • We do not need your consent or agreement to do this. 
  • Please see our local policies for more information by picking up a leaflet from reception. 
 

We are required by law to provide you with the following information about how we handle your information.

Data Controller contact details The Ridgeway Surgery, 1 Mount Echo Avenue, Chingford E4 7JX
Data Protection Officer contact details tbc
Purpose of the processing
  • To give direct health or social care to individual patients. 
  • For example, when a patient agrees to a referral for direct care, such as to a hospital, relevant information about the patient will be shared with the other healthcare staff to enable them to give appropriate advice, investigations, treatments and/or care.
  • To check and review the quality of care. (This is called audit and clinical governance)
Lawful basis for processing

These purposes are supported under the following sections of the GDPR:

  • Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and 
  • Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative 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 and services...”  

Healthcare staff will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data

The data will be shared with: 

  • healthcare professionals and staff in this surgery;
  • local hospitals;
  • out of hours services; 
  • diagnostic and treatment centres; 
  • or other organisations involved in the provision of direct care to individual patients.
Rights to object
  • You have the right to object to information being shared between those who are providing you with direct care. 
  • This may affect the care you receive – please speak to the practice. 
  • You are not able to object to your name, address and other demographic information being sent to NHS Digital. 
  • This is necessary if you wish to be registered to receive NHS care.
  • You are not able to object when information is legitimately shared for safeguarding reasons. 
  • In appropriate circumstances it is a legal and professional requirement to share information for safeguarding reasons. This is to protect people from harm. 
  • The information will be shared with the local safeguarding service
Right to access and correct
  • You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. Please speak to a member of staff or look at our ‘subject access request’ policy on the practice website
  • We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records are kept can be found on the NHS Digital website or speak to the practice.
Right to complain You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain please click here or call the helpline 0303 123 1113
Data we get from other organisations We receive information about your health from other organisations who are involved in providing you with health and social care. For example, if you go to hospital for treatment or an operation the hospital will send us a letter to let us know what happens. This means your GP medical record is kept up-to date when you receive care from other parts of the health service.