Eastfield House Surgery
308858839
YOUR MEDICAL DATA
How we use your data, and who we share it with.
As a part of the NHS, we need and want to share data in various ways but we also
want to protect your confidential and personal information. Data about health can be
used for various reasons, both internally within the practice, and externally with
various services.
Internally we analyse our records so that we know who has diabetes, heart disease,
etc. so we can arrange regular recalls etc., and who is on which drug so we can alert
you if there is a health warning etc. This is normal good medical care.
Externally we share data with other NHS services, either in anonymous, aggregate
form, or in a way that identifies individuals. Aggregate data might be information
about numbers of patients with a stroke or vaccinations, so that the NHS can provide
appropriate services. Identifiable data might be the letters we send to hospitals
about you. Here we attempt to describe some of the ways data is shared with external
agencies. Anonymous data relates to data that is about an individual but that any
identifying data is sufficiently obscured as to make it impossible to identify them.
Hospital letters (Identifiable data)
Whenever we refer you to hospital or another provider, we routinely send the referral
letter, but also add standard information regarding your current medication, your
significant medical problems, allergies, relevant information such as height and
weight, as well as your contact details, (name DoB, address etc). This is essential so
that the hospital is informed of your medical background and helps reduce mistakes.
Insurance Companies etc. (Identifiable data)
Insurance companies ask us for reports in two formats. A general request asking for a
standard and nationally agreed set of data, (medication, allergies, medical problem
list, blood results etc) and then tailored reports asking about a specific condition that
you maybe claiming for. We always ask for written consent from you before we
consider the request to release the information and you may ask to see the report first
if you wish. Insurance companies may also request a “medical examination” where
we act on behalf of the company, to assess their risks.
Solicitors and medical claims. (Identifiable data)
We are asked by solicitors for medical information on your behalf. Increasingly this is
a request for your whole notes and you need to be aware that all records will be sent.
Alternatively they ask for details following a particular incident (such as a car crash)
which we write specifically in response to their request and limit the information to the
specific question. Both requests require your consent although solicitors are legally
bound to only work on your behalf.
Next Review Due: Jan 2016
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Last Updated: 30.01.15 by LMMH
Eastfield House Surgery
308858839
SHARING WITHIN THE NHS
Data has been used for many years to assess health needs. Information of
vaccination rates, disease prevalence (such as numbers of diabetics, heart disease
patients, etc) are collected as well as data about age, sex, appointments. Currently
there are various ways we share data to enable us to care for you better.
QOF and Enhanced Services (Aggregate data)
As part of the mechanism for being paid the practice has to provide data about various
diseases to the government to demonstrate good care. This includes the number of
patients with various diseases, (Diabetes, hypertension, smears etc) as well as care
indicators like the number of patients with a BP taken and under a certain level. Again
no patient identifiable data is uploaded, just numbers. However every year we might
be inspected to verify these bits of information, which means an inspection team (of
doctors and nurses) visits the practice to check the records of specific patients. This
is not looking at you but to check we have done what we said we have done.
ACG (Aggregate but potentially Identifiable data)
In order to help the practice and the commissioners of services understand where
demand comes from we currently upload data to a service called the ACG. This has
looked again at data from the practice as well as from hospital information to assess
the likely demands on the system. This can involve stratifying the population into
different risk groups (those who may end up needing care in the next months and
years). So far this has been aggregate data and not patient identifiable. There are
plans that this might include the ability to “drill down” to individual patients so that they
can be identified and in theory support given to prevent admission to hospital etc.
This second part then requires patient identifiable data to be displayed. We are
currently (2014) awaiting further implementation details. You may opt out of this if you
wish.
Eclipse (Identifiable data)
The Newbury and District CCG have purchased a system called Eclipse which
extracts data from the GP system of all surgeries in the area. This is uploaded to a
secure database where area wide searches can be performed identifying particular
hazards or situations. It is intended to develop into a platform for managing chronic
diseases such as Diabetes and COPD etc. You may opt out of this if you wish.
SCR (Identifiable data)
This is a national database (Summary Care Record) that is intended to provide basic
health information to all providers who need it. It is intended that your demographics
(name DoB address etc) as well as basic medical information (initially drugs and
allergies) would be stored and made accessible to anyone needing it within the NHS.
You may opt out of this if you wish.
Next Review Due: Jan 2016
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Last Updated: 30.01.15 by LMMH
Eastfield House Surgery
308858839
Connected Care (Identifiable data)
This is a West Berkshire initiative enabling local medical professionals to search and
read an accurate, up to date view of your data directly from the original record held at
your GP practice. To ensure that any doctor, nurse or specialist viewing your medical
history is able to see the most current information about you, only one copy of your
record exists, and this is held by your GP. For more information please ask for a
Connected Care leaflet from the surgery front desk. You may opt out of this if you
wish.
QResearch (Anonymous data)
The University of Nottingham in conjunction with our clinical software supplier have
established a research database of GP records to which we contribute. This extracts
the basics of your records in a completely anonymous format to a secure database in
Nottingham and has been used for many groundbreaking bits of research including
heart and diabetes risk scores which we now use in practice.
SHARING DATA OUTSIDE OF THE NHS
care.data (under discussion)
In 2013 the government announced their intention to extract large sections of data
from GP practices to form a national database from which they intend to analyse
health needs across the country and down to local levels. They also announced an
intention to allow the onward transfer this data to interested and authorised third
parties. At the current time (July 2104) we are waiting for further details. You may
opt out of either or both of these options.
OPTING OUT
It is possible for you to opt out of each of these types of data sharing if you wish. You
may opt in again at a later date. Please ask at reception for the specific opt out form.
At the current time (July 2014), you will need to fill in a form to opt out of each type of
data sharing.
Next Review Due: Jan 2016
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Last Updated: 30.01.15 by LMMH