Confidentiality
All patient information is considered to be confidential and we comply fully with the Data Protection Act and Caldicott principles. All employees in the practice have access to this information in relation to their role, have confidentiality clauses in their contracts of employment and have signed a confidentiality agreement. All staff members adhere to the Confidentiality: NHS Code of Practice 2003.
To ensure safe and effective care, patients’ information may be shared with other parties within the care team who are involved in their direct care. Where a patient wishes information not to be shared within the team providing direct care, then they must discuss this with their GP.
Patient information will not be shared outside of the direct care team without consent being sought. An individual has the right to refuse to have their information disclosed, although this may have an impact on their care, and their wishes will be complied with.
It is imperative that when it is right to release details to 3rd parties that the information only includes what has been asked for and not necessarily the full record.
Following the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25th May 2018, the practice has reviewed it’s privacy policies relating to the way we store, use and share information. The relevant privacy notices are:
Fair Process & Privacy Notice
Health Care Organisations
Medical Research & National Clinical Audits
National Screening Programmes