Practice Privacy Notices

We at Canterbury Medical Practice want to let you know about some important updates we are making to our Privacy Policy. Due to new data protection laws, we have updated our privacy policy to clarify how we collect and retain personal data. Please see below for our updated privacy notices.

Privacy Notice

Canterbury Medical Practice

This privacy notice explains why Canterbury Medical Practice collects information about you, how we keep it safe and confidential and how that information may be used. (please see GDPR privacy tab for more detailed notices)

Why we collect information about you

Health care professionals who provide you with care are required by law to maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received within any NHS organisation. These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

We collect and hold data for the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients. In carrying out this role we may collect information about you which helps us respond to your queries or secure specialist services. We may keep your information in written form and/or in digital form. The records may include basic details about you, such as your name and address. They may also contain more sensitive information about your health and information such as outcomes of needs assessments.

Details we collect about you

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously or elsewhere (e.g. NHS Hospital Trust, other GP Surgery, Out of Hours GP Centre, A&E, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Records which we may hold about you may include the following:

  • Details about you, such as your address and next of kin, emergency contacts and power of attorney.
  • Your home telephone number, mobile phone number, email address
  • Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, immunisations, emergency appointments, etc.
  • Notes and reports about your health, treatment and care
  • Results of investigations, such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
  • Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

How we keep your information confidential and safe

All your GP NHS health records are kept electronically. Our GP records database is hosted by EMIS Health Ltd, who is acting as a data processor, and all information is stored on their secure servers in Leeds and is protected by appropriate security, and access is restricted to authorised personnel.

We also make sure that data processors that support us are legally and contractually bound to operate and prove security arrangements are in place where data that could or does identify a person are processed.

We only email you, or use your mobile number to text you, regarding matters of medical care, such as appointment reminders and (if appropriate) test results.

 Unless you have separately given us your explicit consent, we will not email you for non-medical matters (such as surgery newsletters and other information).

We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you always. 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), or where the law requires information to be passed on.

How we use information about you

Confidential patient data will be shared within the healthcare team at the practice, including nursing staff, admin staff, secretaries and receptionists, and with other healthcare professionals to whom a patient is referred. Those individuals have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality.

Details of who is authorised to access your GP record can be found on our website.

Data Analysts:

Canterbury Medical Practice uses Data Analysts. The CCG has a small medicines management team of pharmacy technicians who work closely with GPs and local health providers to help get the best out of medicines for local people, sometimes these may include data audits. More details of this will be available on our website.

Referrals for specific health care purposes:

We sometimes provide your information to other organisations for them to provide you with medical services. We will always inform you of such a referral, ask for consent (explicit or implied). You always have the right not to be referred in this way.

These may include:

  • Referrals for home oxygen services
  • Referrals for Diabetes dietary advice (Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics)
  • Referrals for Diabetes Eye Screening (“DESP” Diabetic Eye Screening Programme)
  • Referrals for Pre-Diabetes (“Healthier You” Diabetes Prevention Programme)

Data Sharing Schemes:

A number of data sharing schemes are active locally, enabling healthcare professionals outside of the surgery to view information from your GP record, with your explicit consent, should that need arise.

These schemes are as follows:

  • The National Summary Care Record (SCR)
  • EMIS Web data streaming (A&E and GP out of hours)
  • Remote Consultations (GP out of hours) CHOC
  • NHS111 Adastra Web Access
  • SECAMB (EPCR Ipad – Kainos)
  • NHS Health Checks (Health Diagnostics LTD)
  • Quit Smoking (One System for Health)
  • MIG (Medical Interoperability Gateway)
  • PAS (patient access system, EKHUFT A&E)
  • IGPR (Electronic Reporting and Screening Tool)
  • IPLATO (patient care messaging)

Details of these schemes, and of your right to opt-out of any or all of them, will be available on our website.

Mandatory disclosures of information

We are sometimes legally obliged to disclose information about patients to relevant authorities. In these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve that legal purpose will be disclosed. That organisation will also have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality. Data will be anonymised if at all possible before disclosure, if this would serve the purpose for which the data is required.

Organisations that we are sometimes obliged to release information to include:

  • NHS Digital (e.g. the National Diabetes Audit – anonymised data)
  • CQC
  • DVLA
  • GMC
  • HMRC
  • NHS Counter Fraud
  • Police
  • The Court
  • Public Health England
  • Local Authorities (Social Services)
  • The Health Service Ombudsman

Permissive disclosures of information:

Only with your explicit consent, Canterbury Medical Practice can release information about you, from your GP record, to relevant organisations.

These may include:

  • Your employer
  • Insurance companies
  • Solicitors
  • Local Authorities, such as the county council or housing
  • Police

Accessing your information on other databases:

Canterbury Medical Practice can access certain medical information about you, when relevant or necessary, that is held on other databases (i.e. under the control of another data controller). These include East Kent Hospital University Hospitals Trust (EKHUFT) databases and NHS Digital’s Open Exeter database. Accessing such information would only be for your direct medical care.

This may include:

  • Cervical Smear results/recall date
  • Child immunisation recalls

For more information about open Exeter please click here

CPRD (clinical practice research datalink)

CPRD is jointly funded by the NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who are part of the Department of Health.

Canterbury Medical Practice sometimes undertakes accredited research projects. This involves accessing identifiable patient information. We will only do so with the explicit consent of the individual and Research Ethics Committee approval. For more information on the governance of this please click here

COVID-19 (Data sharing with NHS Digital):

Canterbury Medical Practice is supporting vital coronavirus (COVID-19) planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital. The health and social care system has faced significant pressures due to the coronavirus outbreak. The information shared is essential to deliver care to individuals, protect public health and important in the research , monitoring and tracking the virus.

As a practice we are supporting NHS Digital by sharing your data to support this fundamental research and as part of the legal requirement under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

The type of personal information we share: 

  • Diagnosis and findings
  • Medications and other prescribed items
  • Investigations, tests and results
  • Treatment and outcomes
  • Vaccinations and immunisations

NHS Digital will analyse the data collection and securely and lawfully share this data with other appropriate organisations. These agencies are involved with protecting public health, providing health and social care public services, carrying out vital research (including clinical trials), monitoring and managing the outbreak and identifying vital trends.

For more information please visit: https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/gpes-data-for-pandemic-planning-and-research/general-practice-transparency-notice

Opt-out of sharing your information:

You have the right to opt-out (or object) to ways in which your information is shared, both for direct medical care purposes (such as the national NHS data sharing schemes), i.e. primary uses of your information, or for purposes other than your direct medical care – so-called secondary uses. Details of these purposes, and how you can opt out, will be found on our website

Accessing your own medical information:

You have the right to access your own GP record. Details of how to do this can be found on our web site and the patient information booklet. You can also sign up to have secure online access to your electronic GP record. Again, details of how to do this can be found on our website and the patient information leaflet.

Notification

GDPR requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner (ICO) to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information.

We are registered as a data controller and our registration can be viewed online in the public register here

Complaints:

If you have concerns or are unhappy about any of our services, please contact the complaints manager, information on this is available on our website.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy, and data sharing issues,

Email Us Here  

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Phone: 08456 30 60 60

Website: www.ico.gov.uk

Further Information:

If you would like any further information about primary or secondary uses of your GP record, opting out, the NHS Databases, access to your medical record, confidentiality, or about any other aspect of NHS data sharing or your medical records, then please do contact the surgery’s Caldicott Guardian / Information Governance lead:

Dr James Hinksman

Email