|
Confidentiality and Data
Protection
Your Rights, Our Responsibilities
It is not possible to provide advice on health
care without requiring information about you. This information
is held solely for the purposes of advising on your health. We
have a legal responsibility to keep confidential all the
information held about you. The obligations that the NHS
has, together with the rights that every individual enjoys,
are set out in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). We comply
with best practice for NHS units such as GP surgeries
Information about you may need to be shared with more than
one medical practitioner. Such information is always stripped
of any information (such as name or email address) which could
identify an individual. The sharing of medical information is
specifically covered by the Act. It says that the
sharing of sensitive, patient related, information is
permissible for "medical purposes" provided that it is
processed by:
* A health professional - ie, GP, Nurse,
Health Visitor
* A person who, though
not a health professional, has responsibility to preserve
confidentiality
This condition will always be met by our
services.
To help improve the standards of health care, information
from your records may also be used for research and
statistical analysis. In the DPA 1998 "medical purposes"
is defined to include "preventative medicine, medical
diagnosis, medical research, the provision of care and
treatment and the management of healthcare services".
Some research studies involve interviews and
questionnaires, in these cases you will be approached to see
if you'd like to take part. Before making a decision to
participate you will be made aware if all or part of the
information is going to be anonymised. Wherever
possible, information used for such purposes will be
anonymised so that it is not possible to identify the patient
to whom it relates.
You do have the right to prevent processing and sharing of
your information. However, the professionals involved in
your care may encounter difficulties and delays if they are
unable to share important health information.
Your Rights
The DPA 1998 gives every individual a number of
rights. In brief, you have the right to:
* Access information held about you -
please note: in accordance with the Act a fee may be charged
for this service
* Prevent processing of
information likely to cause distress
*
Prevent use of information about you for direct
marketing
* Correct and inaccurate
record
* See compensation if you suffer
damage
* Have an assessment made if your
think the Act has been contravened
We undertake to respect these rights.
Our Obligations
The DPA 1998 imposes a number of obligations on our
services. In brief, these are:
* Information about you will be
processed fairly and lawfully
*
Information will be used solely for planning and
delivering health advice and will not be used in a
inappropriate way
* The information
recorded about you will be adequate and
relevant
* You may on
request be sent a copy of all information we hold about
you
* Information will be kept no longer
the necessary
* All of the information
will be processed within the service in accordance with your
rights
* We will take all necessary
measure to prevent unlawful processing, accidental loss,
damage or destruction
* Information will
not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic
Area, unless the country provides adequate protection of your
rights as regards the processing of information
We undertake to fulfill these
obligations
For further information you may send an email to: info@home-screen.co.uk |
