Privacy Notice

COVID-19 Privacy Notice

Due to the unprecedented challenges that the NHS and we, Sothall Medical Centre face due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, there is a greater need for public bodies to require additional collection and sharing of personal data to protect against serious threats to public health.

In order to look after your healthcare needs in the most efficient way we, Sothall Medical Centre may therefore need to share your personal information, including medical records, with staff from other GP Practices including Practices within our Primary Care Network, as well as other health organisations (i.e. Clinical Commissioning Groups, Commissioning Support Units, Local authorities etc.) and bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of research, protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the Covid-19 outbreak and incidents of exposure.

The Secretary of State has served notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI) to require organisations to process confidential patient information in the manner set out below for purposes set out in Regulation 3(1) of COPI.

Purpose of this Notice
The purpose of this Notice is to require organisations such as Sothall Medical Centre to process confidential patient information for the purposes set out in Regulation 3(1) of COPI to support the Secretary of State’s response to Covid-19 (Covid-19 Purpose). “Processing” for these purposes is defined in Regulation 3(2) and includes dissemination of confidential patient information to persons and organisations permitted to process confidential patient information under Regulation 3(3) of COPI. This Notice is necessary to require organisations such as Sothall Medical Centre to lawfully and efficiently process confidential patient information as set out in Regulation 3(2) of COPI for purposes defined in regulation 3(1), for the purposes of research, protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the Covid-19 outbreak and incidents of exposure.

Requirement to Process Confidential Patient Information
The Secretary of State has served notice to recipients under Regulation 3(4) that requires Sothall Medical Centre to process confidential patient information, including disseminating to a person or organisation permitted to process confidential patient information under Regulation 3(3) of COPI.

Sothall Medical Centre is only required to process such confidential patient information:

• where the confidential patient information to be processed is required for a Covid-19 Purpose and will be processed solely for that Covid-19 Purpose in accordance with Regulation 7 of COPI
• from 20th March 2020 until 30th September 2020.

Covid-19 Purpose.
A Covid-19 Purpose includes but is not limited to the following:
• understanding Covid-19 and risks to public health, trends in Covid-19 and such risks, and controlling and preventing the spread of Covid-19 and such risks
• identifying and understanding information about patients or potential patients with or at risk of Covid-19, information about incidents of patient exposure to Covid-19 and the management of patients with or at risk of Covid-19 including: locating, contacting, screening, flagging and monitoring such patients and collecting information about and providing services in relation to testing, diagnosis, self-isolation, fitness to work, treatment, medical and social interventions and recovery from Covid-19
• understanding information about patient access to health services and adult social care services and the need for wider care of patients and vulnerable groups as a direct or indirect result of Covid-19 and the availability and capacity of those services or that care
• monitoring and managing the response to Covid-19 by health and social care bodies and the Government including providing information to the public about Covid-19 and its effectiveness and information about capacity, medicines, equipment, supplies, services and the workforce within the health services and adult social care services
• delivering services to patients, clinicians, the health services and adult social care services workforce and the public about and in connection with Covid-19, including the provision of information, fit notes and the provision of health care and adult social care services
• research and planning in relation to Covid-19.

Recording of processing
A record will be kept by Sothall Medical Centre of all data processed under this Notice.

Sending Public Health Messages
Data protection and electronic communication laws will not stop Sothall Medical Centre from sending public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email as these messages are not direct marketing.

Digital Consultations

It may also be necessary, where the latest technology allows Sothall Medical Centre to do so, to use your information and health data to facilitate digital consultations and diagnoses and we will always do this with your security in mind.

Research and Pandemic Planning

The Secretary of State has directed NHS Digital to collect, process and analyse data in connection with COVID-19 to support the Secretary of State’s response to COVID-19 and support various COVID-19 purposes set out in the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020, 17 March 2020 (as amended) (COVID-19 Direction) and below. This enables NHS Digital to collect data and analyse and link the data for COVID-19 purposes with other data held by NHS Digital.

The purpose of the data collection is also to respond to the intense demand for General Practice data to be shared in support of vital planning and research for COVID-19 purposes, including under the general legal notice issued by the Secretary of State under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI).
NHS Digital has therefore been requested by the joint co-chairs of the Joint GP IT Committee (JGPITC) (the BMA and RCGP) to provide a tactical solution during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic to meet this demand and to relieve the growing burden and responsibility on General Practices. On 15 April 2020 the BMA and RCGP therefore gave their support via JGPITC to NHS Digital’s proposal to use the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES) to deliver a data collection from General Practices, at scale and pace, as a tactical solution to support the COVID-19 response in the pandemic emergency period.

It is a requirement of the JGPITC that all requests by organisations to access and use this data will need to be made via the NHSX SPOC COVID-19 request process, that will triage and prioritise these requests and refer appropriate requests on to the NHS Digital Data Access Request Service (DARS). NHS Digital will consult with representatives of the BMA and the RCGP on all requests for access to the data. An outline of the process for this agreed with the BMA and the RCGP is published here. Requests by organisations to access record level data from this collection will also be subject to Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD) consideration. Data applicants will need to demonstrate they have a lawful basis to access the data for COVID-19 purposes.

Benefits of this sharing

Organisations, including the Government, health and social care organisations and researchers need access to this vital data for a range of COVID-19 purposes, to help plan, monitor and manage the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will help save lives. COVID-19 purposes for which this data may be analysed and used may include:

• understanding COVID-19 and risks to public health, trends in COVID-19 and such risks, and controlling and preventing the spread of COVID-19 and such risks

• identifying and understanding information about patients or potential patients with, or at risk of COVID-19, information about incidents of patient exposure to COVID-19 and the management of patients with or at risk of COVID-19 including: locating, contacting, screening, flagging and monitoring such patients and collecting information about and providing services in relation to testing, diagnosis, self-isolation, fitness to work, treatment, medical and social interventions and recovery from COVID19

• understanding information about patient access to health services and adult social care services as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19, and the availability and capacity of those services • monitoring and managing the response to COVID-19 by health and social care bodies and the Government including providing information to the public about COVID-19 and its effectiveness and information about capacity, medicines, equipment, supplies, services and the workforce within the health services and adult social care services

• delivering services to patients, clinicians, the health services and adult social care services workforce and the public about and in connection with COVID-19, including the provision of information, fit notes and the provision of health care and adult social care services; and

• research and planning in relation to COVID-19.

Data may be analysed and linked to other data held by NHS Digital or held by other organisations to which access to the data is granted for COVID-19 purposes, through the process described above.

Data will be collected nationally from all GP Practices by NHS Digital every fortnight. All requests to access this data will be triaged through the NHSX SPOC COVID-19 request process and assessed and fulfilled by NHS Digital through DARS. This will significantly reduce the burden on General Practice at a time when demand on resources is high, enabling General Practice to focus on delivering health care and support to patients. It will also reduce compliance burden and risk for General Practice associated with sharing data and complying with the terms of the general legal notice issued under COPI, which applies to General Practices.

Legal Basis for this collection

NHS Digital has been directed by the Secretary of State under section 254 of the 2012 Act under the COVID-19 Direction to establish and operate a system for the collection and analysis of the information specified for this service: GPES Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19). A copy of the COVID-19 Direction is published here: https://digital.nhs.uk//about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/directions-anddata-provision-notices/secretary-of-state-directions/covid-19-public-health-directions-2020.

Details of the information to be collected can be found on the NHS Digital website – Specification of this DPN. Type 1 objections will be upheld in collecting this data from General Practices and therefore the data for those patients who have registered a Type 1 objection with their GP will not be collected. The Type 1 objection prevents an individual’s personal identifiable confidential information from being shared outside of their GP Practice except when it is being used for the purposes of their direct care. The National Data Opt-Out will not apply to the collection of the data, as this is a collection which is required by law.

This information is required by NHS Digital under section 259(1)(a) of the 2012 Act to comply with the COVID-19 Direction. In line with section 259(5) of the 2012 Act, all organisations in England that are within the scope of this Notice, as identified below under Health and Social Care Bodies within the scope of the collection, must comply with the requirement and provide information to NHS Digital in the form, manner and for the period specified in this Notice. This Notice is issued in accordance with the procedure published as part of NHS Digital’s duty under section 259(8) of the 2012 Act.

Visitors to The Practice

We have an obligation to protect our staff and employees’ health, so it is reasonable for staff at Sothall Medical Centre to ask any visitors to our practice to tell us if they have visited a particular country, or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. This must only be in pre-approved circumstances and we would also ask all patients to consider government advice on the NHS 111 website and not attend the practice.

Where it is necessary for us to collect information and specific health data about visitors to our practice, we will not collect more information than we need, and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

Review and Expiry of this Notice
This Notice will be reviewed on or before 30 September 2020 and may be extended by The Secretary of State. If no further notice is sent to Sothall Medical Centre by The Secretary of State this Notice will expire on 30 September 2020.

Privacy Notice 

How we use your personal information

This privacy notice explains why Sothall Medical Centre collects information about you and how that information may be used.

GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 as data controllers. This means we ensure your personal confidential data is handled in ways that are transparent and that you would reasonably expect. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 changed the way that personal confidential data are processed, therefore it is important that patients are made aware of, and understand these changes.

The GPs and health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, 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. We use a combination of technology and working practices to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which this GP Practice holds about you may include the following information;

• Details about you, your home address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, your appointments, clinic visits emergency appointments etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and the care you received
• Results of investigations, laboratory tests, x-rays etc. and any
• Relevant information from other health professionals, 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 within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

In the event that you may need to be seen at another GP Practice or ‘Hub’ it may be necessary to share your information within and across the Primary Care Network in Sheffield, to ensure that you receive the most appropriate medical attention.

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 will always endeavor to gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

Under the powers of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA) the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) can request Personal Confidential Data (PCD) from GP Practices without seeking patient consent. The Care Data Programme allows PCD to be collected by the HSCIC to ensure that the quality and safety of services is consistent across the country. Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare providers with the objective of providing you with better care.

Any patient can choose to withdraw their consent to their data being used in this way. When the Practice is about to participate in any new data-sharing scheme we will make patients aware by displaying prominent notices in the surgery and on our website at least four weeks before the scheme is due to start. We will also explain clearly what you have to do to ‘opt-out’ of each new scheme.

To find out more about the wider use of confidential personal information and to register your choice to opt out if you do not want your data to be used in this way, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

Note: if you do choose to opt out, you can still consent to your data being used for specific purposes. However, if you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. You may however change your choice at any time.

A patient can object to their personal information being shared with other health care providers but this may limit the treatment that you can receive when the surgery is closed.

Children and Young Adults Privacy Notice

Children’s Privacy Notice

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification is a process for identifying and managing patients who are at high risk of requiring emergency or urgent care.

Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a particular condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventive 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 de-identified information using software managed by Sheffield CCG, and is only provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary your GP may be able to offer you additional services.

Please note that you have the right to opt out of your data being used in this way.

As a patient you can object to your personal information being shared or being part of any data collection at the practice. Please contact the Practice Manager in writing if you have concerns or wish to change your mind and reverse a previous decision about data sharing.

Medicines Management

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost effective treatments. This service is provided to practices by Sheffield CCG Medicines Management Team.

Invoice Validation

If you have received treatment within the NHS your personal information may be shared within a strictly monitored, secure and confidential environment in order to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group should pay for the treatment or procedure you have received.

Information such as your name, address and date of treatment may be passed on to enable the billing process. These details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information will only be used to validate invoices, and will not be shared for any further commissioning purposes

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

• • Data Protection Act 1998
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
  • Health and Social Care Act 2012
  • NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management
  • Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. All of our staff and contractors have appropriate and ongoing training to ensure they are aware of their personal responsibilities and have contractual obligations to uphold confidentiality. Authorised staff access personal information where it is necessary for their role and is strictly on a need-to-know basis. Information is only shared with organisations and individuals that have a legitimate and legal basis for access.

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 (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the new information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles. They should be supported by the policies of their employers, regulators and professional bodies.

 The report, Information: To share or not to share? The Information Governance Review, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-information-governance-review

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 / Foundation Trusts
• GP’s
• NHS Commissioning Support Units
• Out of Hours Service and 111
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
•  Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care Services
• Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Judicial Services

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for explicit consent for this to happen when this is required.

Use of your Personal Data in Research

The surgery participates in clinic research to further progress the study of clinical medicine.

Further details can be found here:  HEAT Study – The University of Nottingham

Access to personal information

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to request to access/view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as the ‘the right of subject access’. In order to request this, you need to do the following:

• Complete the following Subject Access Request form and bring it to surgery along with photographic ID Subject Access Request Form
• If you require information from the hospital please contact them direct
• You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located

Some details in your health records may be exempt from disclosure; however this will be in the interests of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party.

Change of Details

It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect in order for this to be amended. We would require sight of the official documentation to make amendments (e.g. marriage certificate, utility bill or letter with change of address etc.). You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information.

This information is publicly available on the Information Commissioners Office website ico.org.uk

The Practice is registered with CM Associate’s and our DPO (Data Protection Officer) is Caroline Million – caroline.million@outlook.com 07912 975522  CM Associates, 44 Cliffe Road, Shepley, Huddersfield, HD8 8DF.

Who is the Data Controller?

Sothall Medical Centre is registered as the Data Controller and is responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The registration number is Z7523111 and can be viewed online in the public register at http://ico.org.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers

Consent and Objections

The General Data Practice Regulation is similar to the Data Protection Act 1998 (which the practice already complies with), and provides special protection for patient data and your right to privacy. Where we need your consent to process data, this consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.

You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Further information

Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found in:

• The NHS Care Record Guarantee: Care Record Guarantee
• The NHS Constitution: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england
• data programme: General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR) – NHS Digital
• The HSCIC Guide to Confidentiality gives more information on the rules around information sharing: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/confguideorg
• The NHS Commissioning Board – NHS England – Better Data, Informed Commissioning, Driving Improved Outcomes: Clinical Data Sets provides further information about the data flowing within the NHS to support commissioning. NHS England » Improving access to data

Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at Sothall Medical Centre or feel that we have not complied with the current data protection legislation, please contact in writing the Practice Manager, Mr. Michael Lyall. If you are still unhappy following a review by the practice, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via their website  https://ico.org.uk/

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared then please contact the practice in writing as below:

Practice Manager, Mr. Michael Lyall
Sothall Medical Centre
24 Eckington Road
Sothall
Sheffield
S20 1HQ

If you are still unhappy following a review by the Practice you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). www.ico.gov.uk telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the Regulator for the Data Protection Act 1998 and offer independent advice and guidance on the law and personal data, including your rights and how to access your personal information. For further information please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website at http://www.ico.gov.uk

May 2018