Data Security and Privacy Notices
GP Privacy Notice Template – Childrens (GDPR)
GP-Data-Security-Protection-Policy
2022-23 General Practice Privacy Notice
Transparency Notice
We use a facility called GP Connect to support your direct care. GP Connect makes patient information available to all appropriate clinicians when and where they need it, to support direct patients care, leading to improvements in both care and outcomes.
GP Connect is not used for any purpose other than direct care.
Authorised Clinicians such as GPs, nurses and HCAs, Health Coaches and Social Prescribers are able to access the GP records of the patients they are treating via a secure NHS Digital service called GP connect on behalf of our Primary Care Network – Brighter Birkenhead PCN
Legal basis for sharing this data
In order for your Personal Data to be shared or processed, an appropriate “legal basis” needs to be in place and recorded. The legal bases for direct care via GP Connect is the same as the legal bases for the care you would receive from your own GP, or another healthcare provider:
- for the processing of personal data: Article 6.1 (e) of the UK GDPR: “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”.
- for the processing of “Special Category Data” (which includes your medical information): Article 9.2 (h) of the UK GDPR: “processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive 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”.
Your rights
Because the legal bases used for your care using GP Connect are the same as used in other direct care situations, the legal rights you have over this data under UK GDPR will also be the same- these are listed elsewhere in our privacy notice.
Opting out of GP Connect
If patients do not wish their information to be shared using GP Connect, they can opt out by contacting their GP practice.
National Data Opt-out
The National Data Opt-out is a service that allows patients to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning.
The National Data Opt-out only applies to any disclosure of data for purposes beyond direct care, so having National Data Opt-out will not prevent your GP patient record being shared via GP Connect.
GP Connect: GDPR information – NHS Digital
GP Connect Transparency Notice – NHS Digital
IT & My Data
Online Patient Access
Our patients can make and cancel appointments with doctors, request repeat prescriptions, change their contact details to the practice, all online using the Patient Access service. To use the Patient Access service for the first time you will need to obtain a registration letter from Reception and also bring with you Photographic ID such as passport or driving license as proof of identification. You will need to collect the registration letter in person as we are unable to post the letter for security reasons.
A new contractual requirement came into force from 1 April 2014 requiring that GP Practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:
- Summary Care Record (SCR)
- GP to GP Record Transfers
- Patient Online Access to their GP Record
- Patient Access to online appointment booking & ordering of repeat prescriptions
- Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes
- Referral Management
Please find below details of the Practices stance with regards to these points.
Summary Care Record (SCR)
NHS England require Practices to enable successful automated uploads of any chance to patients summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR) or have published plans to achieve this by 31 March 2015.
Having your summary care record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.
Of course if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record.
GP to GP Record Transfers
NHS England requires Practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between Practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).
It is very important that you are registered with a Doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous Doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to two weeks to reach your new surgery.
With GP to GP record transfers, your electronic record is transferred to your new Practice much sooner.
Devaney Medical Centre confirms that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.
Patient Online Access to Their GP Record
NHS England requires Practices to promote and offer the facility to enable patient’s online access to appointments, prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions, or have published plans in place to achieve this by 31 March 2015.
We currently offer the facility for booking and cancelling appointments and also for ordering your repeat prescriptions on-line. This is done by collecting a personal pin number at reception and activating your registration via our Practice Website.
By March 2015, we will offer patients the facility to view, export or print summary information from their records relating to medications, allergies and adverse reactions.
Data for Commissioning and Other Secondary Care Purposes
It is already a requirement of the Health & Social Care Act that Practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of commissioners and other health and social care organisations through appropriate and safe data sharing for secondary care usage, as specified in the technical specification for care data.
At Devaney Medical Centre we have specific arrangements in place to allow patients to “opt out” of care.data which allows for the removal of data from the Practice. Please contact the surgery if you require further information or for the forms to “opt out”.
Devaney Medical Centre confirm these arrangements are in place and that we undertake l training and audits to ensure that all our data is handled correctly and safely via the Information Governance Toolkit.
