Data Privacy

How we use your personal information

This fair processing notice explains why Harrow Health Care Centre collects information about you and how that information may be used.

The health care professionals who provide you with medical care maintain records about your health and any treatment you have received previously (e.g. letters from consultants, hospital discharge notes, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

These health records may be electronic, 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. Records which Harrow Health Care Centre hold about you may include the following information:

• Details about you, such as your address, legal representative, emergency contact details
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc.
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who provide 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 occasionally be used to help protect the health of the public. Information may be used within Harrow Health Care Centre for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. 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 – Harrow Health Care Centre will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

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:

• General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (formerly Data Protection Act 1998)
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• Health and Social Care Act 2012
• Various healthcare sector Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management
• Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

Every member of staff who works for Harrow Health Care Centre has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.

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.

Who are our partner organisations?

You will be informed about who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for explicit consent for this to happen when this is required. We may also use external companies to process personal information, such as for archiving purposes. These companies are bound by contractual agreements to ensure information is kept confidential and secure.

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

• Private Sector Providers (e.g. Consultants and Private Hospitals)
• Specialist Laboratories (e.g. for blood tests)
• GPs
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care Services
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Judicial Services
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
• Other ‘data processors’ of which you will be informed

Access to personal information

You have a right under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information Harrow Health Care Centre holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. In order to request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request must be made in writing to the GP – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them
• There may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you
• We are required to respond to you within 40 days
• You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located.

Objections / Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at Harrow Health Care Centre, please contact the Harrow Health Care Centre Practice Manager. If you are still unhappy following a review by Harrow Health Care Centre, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via their website (www.ico.gov.uk).

If you are happy for your data to be 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.

Cookies

Our practice website uses cookies to function correctly. You may delete cookies at any time but doing so may result in some parts of the site not working correctly.

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. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.

Notification

The General Data Protection Regulations 2018 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 www.ico.org.uk

Harrow Health Care Centre is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

Who is the Data Controller?

The Data Controller, responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential is: Harrow Health Care Centre

Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed by the Practice please contact the Practice Manager at the following address:

Harrow Health Care Centre
Clementine Churchill Hospital
Sudbury Hill
Harrow
HA1 3RX

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