GDPR and Privacy
GDPR - Privacy Notices & IG Documents
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download a copy of the leaflet “How information about you helps us to provide better care”. below
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
GDPR Privacy Notices
The surgery is working hard to ensure that it is compliant with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into affect on the 25th May 2018. Although many organisations have had to contact customers to ensure that they have consent to contact them in future, as care providers we work under a 'Direct Care' Privacy Notice which allows us to use implied consent for how we handle your information and contact you about your care. The surgery has a number of Privacy Notices that patients can view and staff are happy to answer any questions that you may have. It is also worth noting that the surgeries compliance is ongoing as there is still some uncertainty about how the changes will effect patients on a day to day basis. As such the surgery has a GDPR Action Plan which is routinely updated and work done on it as part of our evidence to show how we are working towards this new regulation.
E-Consult
The surgery uses e-consult as its preferred and recognized supplier of on-line consultations. E-consult allows patients to complete a series of questions about their reason for contacting the surgery which in turn can direct patients to other health providers if appropriate, or to own clinicians. An e-consult document is integrated into a patients clinical record by a member of the reception team. E-consult software has been approved for use by the surgery by our own CCG as part of the Total Telephone Triage model during Covid19 Pandemic
Information about Information Governance and security for using e-consult can ebe found by clicking on the link below along with a DPIA agreement:
Accurx
The surgery uses Accurx as a method to communicate with its patients. This software can be used as a 2-way chain SMS service meaning that you may be asked a question or to provide a document or picture for the clinician. Accurx software can also be used by the clinical team to perform video consultations. Patients that have previously provided us with consent to use SMS will be able to use this software. Those patients that have dissented to use SMS may be prompted by the clinician if they which to change this consent. You can amend you consent at any time. Accurx have provided a DPIA agreement that has been agreed with the surgery on how it is going use your information and integrate with our clinical system.
Contact Assist
The surgery intends to make use of Contact Assist software in 2020. This software will automatically inform the reception team who is calling in and their details when a patients telephones in. This will make your interaction with the team more effective, and shorten both call times and call waiting times. Contact Assist software is downloaded onto the surgery PCs by one of the engineer teams. There is no integration between any external platform and IT engineer access is only authorised on an individual basis; as such no DPIA was needed by Contact Assist have provided their own IG document to information patients how the software works.