How We Use Your Health Records

In the NHS, we aim to provide you with the highest quality of healthcare. To do this we must keep records about you, your health, and the care we have provided to you, or plan to provide to you. The doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals caring for you, and other members of our staff, will ask you to provide information about yourself. This information helps to ensure that you receive the best possible care.

Information about you may be written on paper or recorded electronically.

Different healthcare professionals may record information about you, and as such, your records may be stored in different parts of the NHS. The types of information we collect includes:

• Basic details about you (such as name, address, date of birth, GP practice, etc.).

• Details of contacts we have had with you (such as clinic visits, virtual consultations, inpatient attendances or therapeutic interventions).

• Notes and reports about your health, your treatment and the care you have received.

• Results of investigations (such as x-rays, scans and laboratory tests).

• Relevant information from people who care for you or know you well (such as social care professionals and relatives).

Your records are primarily used to direct, manage and deliver your care so that:

• Healthcare professionals have accurate and up-to-date information to assess your health and provide the care you need.

• Information about you is available if you are sent elsewhere, e.g. referral to a specialist. We share information with other partner organisations to support your care.

• The quality of care you have received can be assessed, known as clinical audit.

• Any concerns you may have can be properly investigated.

• Look after the health of the general public.

• Ensure our services meet patient needs now and in the future.

• Prepare statistics on NHS performance.

• Educate and train healthcare professionals.

• Conduct health research and development.

• Enable funding of your GP, dentist and hospital for the care they provide.

• Investigate complaints, legal claims and incidents.

If we need to use your information for purposes other than direct care we will do so in line with NHS standards and controls.

Every member of staff working in the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you secure and confidential. This is included in staff contracts of employment.

The information held by our Trust about you is protected by strict physical, electronic and procedural measures. There is often a need to share information about you with healthcare professionals and within the Trust so we can work together for your benefit. But we will only ever share your information when there is legitimate need to do so, and only using secure methods.

Your information will only ever be disclosed to third parties without your permission in exceptional circumstances. For example, very occasionally we may be required by a court to provide information without consent to prevent harm or to allow the investigation of a serious crime.

We have a duty to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up-to-date. We will check if your details are correct each time you visit. Please help by telling us if your details change, e.g. your mobile phone number, or if you change your address or GP. It is important that the information you provide to us is correct.

• You have the right to be informed about how your information is used.

• You have the right to privacy and confidentiality, and to expect the NHS to ensure that your confidential information is safe and secure.

• You have the right to object to your confidential information being used or shared beyond your treatment and care; to have your objections considered; and where your wishes cannot be followed, to be told the reasons, including the legal basis.

• You have the right to access your own health records and to have any factual inaccuracies corrected.

You have the right to see or receive a copy of the information we hold about you free of charge, this is called a subject access request, and to have any information you do not understand explained to you.

Occasionally, it may be deemed appropriate to refuse your access to some or all of your information; for example, if seeing it may cause serious harm to your health or breaches another person’s confidentiality. The Data Access team will be able to assist you in making a request for access.