Data Protection Privacy Notice for Patients

As a registered patient, Warwick Gates Family Health Centre has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you at the organisation. We collect records about your health and the treatment you receive in both electronic and paper format. 

Why do we have to provide this privacy notice? 

We are required to provide you with this privacy notice by law. It provides information about how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect, store and hold about you. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or are unclear about how we process or use your personal 

information, or have any other issue regarding your personal and healthcare information, then please contact our Data Protection Officer, Paul Couldrey of PCIG Consulting Ltd, Couldrey@me.com PCIG Consulting Limited, 7 Westacre Drive, Quarry Bank, Dudley DY5 2EE 

The main things the law says we must tell you about what we do with your personal data are: 

• We must let you know why we collect personal and healthcare information about you
• We must let you know how we use any personal and/or healthcare information we hold about you
• We need to inform you in respect of what we do with it
• We need to tell you about who we share it with or pass it on to and why   We need to let you know how long we can keep it for

What is a privacy notice? 

A privacy notice (or ‘fair processing notice’) explains the information we collect about our patients and how it is used. Being open and providing clear information to patients about how an organisation uses their personal data is an essential requirement of the new UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR).

Under the UK GDPR, we must process personal data in a fair and lawful manner. This applies to everything that is done with patient’s personal information. 

This means that the organisation must; 

• Have lawful and appropriate reasons for the use or collection of personal data
• Not use the data in a way that may cause harm to the individuals (e.g., improper sharing of their information with third parties)
• Be open about how the data will be used and provide appropriate privacy notices when collecting personal data
• Handle personal data in line with the appropriate legislation and guidance   Not use the collected data inappropriately or unlawfully

What is fair processing? 

Personal data must be processed in a fair manner – the UK GDPR says that information should be treated as being obtained fairly if it is provided by a person who is legally authorised or required to provide it. Fair processing means that the organisation has to be clear and open with people about how their information is used. 

Warwick Gates Family Health Centre manages patient information in accordance with existing laws and with guidance from organisations that govern the provision of healthcare in England such as the Department of Health and the General Medical Council. 

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

• UK General Data Protection Regulations 2016
• Data Protection Act 2018
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• Health and Social Care Act 2012
• NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security
• Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled clearly and transparently and in a reasonably expected way. 

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 changed the way that personal confidential data is processed so it is important that our patients are aware of and understand these changes and that you have an opportunity to object and know how to do so. 

The healthcare professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any NHS treatment or care you have received (e.g., NHS Hospital Trust, GP surgery, walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare. 

NHS health records may be processed electronically, on paper or a mixture of both and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. 

Who is the data controller? 

Warwick Gates Family Health Centre is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018. Our registration number is Z6924854 and our registration can be viewed online in the public register at http://www.ico.gov.uk. This means we are responsible for handling your personal and healthcare information and collecting and storing it appropriately when you are seen by us as a patient. 

We may also process your information for a particular purpose and therefore we may also be data processors. The purposes for which we use your information are set out in this privacy notice. 

What type of information do we collect about you? 

Information held by this organisation may include the following: 

• Your contact details (such as your name, address and email address)
• Details and contact numbers of your next of kin
• Your age range, gender, ethnicity
• Details in relation to your medical history
• The reason for your visit to the organisation
• Any contact the organisation and/or your practice has had with you including appointments (emergency or scheduled), clinic visits, etc.   Notes and reports about your health, details of diagnosis and consultations with our GPs and other health professionals within the healthcare environment involved in your direct healthcare
• Details about the treatment and care received
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you
• Recordings of telephone conversations between yourself and the organisation

Information collected about you from others 

We collect and hold data for the purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients and we will ensure that the information is kept confidential. However, we can disclose personal information if: 

• It is required by law
• You provide your consent – either implicitly for the sake of your own care or explicitly for other purposes   It is justified to be in the public interest

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to enable the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us to manage the NHS. 

Information may be used for clinical audit purposes to monitor the quality of services provided, may be held centrally and may use for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we ensure that patient records cannot be identified. 

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for clinical research purposes – the organisation will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information. 

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. You can choose to withdraw your consent to your data being used in this way. When the organisation is about to participate in any new data-sharing scheme, we will make patients aware by displaying prominent notices 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. 

A patient can object to their personal information being shared with other healthcare providers but if this limits the treatment that you can receive then the doctor will explain this to you at the time. 

Please read the entire privacy notice here.