Help Us To Keep Up-To-Date Information About You:
It is important that we have up to date information about you. If any of your circumstances change, please tell us the next time you see us. We will ask you on occasion to confirm your details so that we have up-to-date records. If you are unable to provide up-to-date details, we may ask someone else such as a relative or carer for this information.
Caring For You:
Your records contain information about your health and social care, including appointments, treatments, assessments, test results and the opinions of the staff caring for you. These are used by staff to make sure they can offer you good quality care and appropriate treatment.
We respect your right to privacy and ensure that the information we hold about you remains confidential. Your records are only available to staff who need to have access to them and not to others who are not involved in your care. If you do not want certain information recorded, please talk to the person in charge of your care.
Sharing For You:
When you require care it is often the case that several organisations will be involved in providing it. To enable this to happen smoothly, information about you is shared between the staff in the organisations caring for you. The Health Service works with many partner agencies such as Social Services, Education, Housing, Police and the voluntary sector ie Age Concern. When information needs to be passed between people from different organisations, it is transferred securely and kept confidential by the people who receive it. Staff should discuss with you, what information they are sharing and why, and you can always ask if you have any concerns.
On occasion it may be important for your information to be shared in order to prevent you or someone else coming to harm. We only share information in such situations where we have either spoken to you or where it is vital to do so in your best interests and we are unable to talk to you. However, the guiding principle is that your information is held in strict confidence. There are also laws that require the Health Service to share information such as child protection cases, controlling infectious disease and protecting vulnerable individuals.
Working For You:
In addition to providing the care you need, the Health Service uses information for a number of other important activities such as research, quality monitoring and developing services.
You may be invited to participate in research studies. All research is approved by a ‘Research Ethics Committee’ before it can start and there is close scrutiny over how information is handled. Details about your health will not be passed to researchers unless you choose to take part. Where appropriate, your agreement will be recorded in writing.
Reassurance For You:
All staff receive education and regular updates about how to handle your information and they are all bound by a legal duty to keep information confidential.
Information that is stored on computer is subject to stringent controls over who can access the information. Staff can only see information that relates to the job they do and the patients/service users that they are seeing. Regular audits of the security of computer systems and procedures to collect and store data take place to ensure that everything is working well.
Your Rights To Access Information Held:
All patients and service users should be able to see the information that is kept in their health & social care record. If you want to see your record you should make a written request to the Trust at the address at the foot of this page. The Trust is obliged to let you see the information and also to explain any part of the record that you do not understand. You are also entitled to receive a copy of the information you have seen. Please note that a small charge may be made for the administration and time involved. Sometimes you may only be shown part of your records or your request may be declined eg if we think it may put your health at risk.
If you would like to know more about how we use your information. you can speak to the person in charge of your care.The Trust works in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 to ensure that all records held are secure and that your rights to access information held about you are respected. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at the address at the foot of this page:
Requests to access your records will be dealt with promptly. It should take no longer than 40 days after the person holding your records has got your fully completed request, the fee for disclosure and, if necessary, proof of your identity and confirmation of the information you require. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 access is free if you don't need a permanent copy (i.e. a photocopy) or if the information in your records has been added to in the last 40 days. If you want a copy of the information in your records, there may be a charge up to a maximum of £50.
What To Do If You Wish To Complain:
If you are refused access to information that is held about you or you wish to complain about how your information is being used, you could approach our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) in the first instance. Alternatively you can address a formal complaint to the Complaints Manager at Trust Headquarters at the address given below.
How Long Are Records Held ?
Records are normally held for a minimum of 8 years and GP records for 10 years after the conclusion of treatment, but there are lots of exceptions e.g. children and young people, maternity records, mental health records, records of armed forces personnel and prisoners etc. The Department of Health has published comprehensive guidance designed to advise NHS staff of the retention schedules of records that are held. These are published within a document called ‘Records Management: NHS Code of Practice’ (ref 270422). The Trust works in accordance with this Code of Practice.