Practice Policies & Patient Information

Chaperones

You are very welcome to be accompanied by a trusted friend or relative at your consultation if you wish, and this is all the more important if English is not your first language, or if you feel you might not be able to express what you need clearly to the doctor or nurse.

In addition, for intimate examinations, you will be offered the choice of having another professional clinician present at the examination. This is called chaperoning.

Complaints

Practice Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you receive from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system conforms to the NHS Complaints Regulations 2018.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a written complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks. This is because it will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

Within twelve months of the incident that caused the problem; or
Within twelve months of discovering details of the incident that caused the problem.

Complaints should be addressed to Rachel Critcher, Practice Manager. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with Rachel Critcher in order to discuss your concerns. Rachel will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will help us greatly if you are as specific as possible about your complaint. During the Covid-19 pandemic we would advise that this takes place over the telephone rather than a face to face meeting.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and offer to discuss with you at a mutually convenient time:

the manner in which your complaint is to be handled; and
the period within which the investigation of your complaint is likely to be completed which NHS England currently expect to be within a 6 month period and
the further period within which we agree a timescale with you for responding to your complaint.

If the investigation is likely to take more than the agreed timescale we shall aim to keep you informed of its progress.

After completing the investigation we shall as soon as reasonably practicable send you a written response which will include:

an explanation of how the complaint has been considered; and
the conclusions reached in relation to the complaint, including any matters for which the complaint specifies, or which we consider, that remedial action is needed; and
confirmation as to whether we are satisfied that any action needed in consequence of your complaint has been taken or is proposed to be taken.
details of your right to take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining to Commissioner of the Service

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and provide an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the Black Country Integrated Care Board as the commissioner of the service. if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us directly in the first instance.

Telephone: 0300 0120 281 Email: [email protected]

Writing to them at: Time2Talk, NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) Civic Centre, St Peter’s Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH

In these circumstances you should contact:

NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
By email: [email protected] – please include ‘For the attention of the Complaints Team’ in the subject line

NHS Complaints Advocacy Service

You may also wish to contact the local NHS Complaints Advocacy Service for support and advice in making your complaint.

They can be contacted at POhWER, PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL.

Tel: 0300 456 2370, Text: 81025, or by email: [email protected]

Complaining to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to take your complaint to the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent of government and the NHS. The service is confidential and free. There are time limits for taking a complaint to the Ombudsman although the Ombudsman can waive them if it is thought there is a good reason to do so.

If you have any questions about whether the Ombudsman will be able to help you, or about how to make a complaint:

The Ombudsman may be contacted at:

The Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Telephone (helpline): 0345 015 4033, e-mail: [email protected] or fax 0300 061 4000. Further information is available at www.ombudsman.org.uk

Confidentiality

Freedom of Information

GP Earnings

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Stoutrside Medical Practice in the last financial year 2022/23 was £57,460 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 1 full time GP, 4 part time GPs and 3 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

How We Use Your Information

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

We have a duty to:

Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you.
Keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate.
Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (i.e., in large type if you are partially sighted).

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason, unless:

You ask us to do so.
We ask, and you give us specific permission.
We must do this by law.
We have special permission for health or research purposes.
We have special permission because the interests of the public are thought to be of greater importance than your confidentiality.

Our guiding principle is that we are holding your records in strict confidence.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may share information with the following main partner organisations:

NHS England.
Our commissioners.
NHS trusts / organisation (hospitals, CCG’s).
Ambulance service.
Social services.

We may also share your information, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols about how it will be used, with:

Education services.
Local authorities.
Voluntary sector providers.
Private sector.

Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to keep it all confidential.

If you believe the trust has breached any of your data protection rights

You have a right to complain to the UK Supervisory Authority as below:

Information Commissioner

Wycliffe house
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Website: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Why we collect information about you

In the practice 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 or plan to provide to you.

These records may include:

Basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, next of kin
Contact we have had with you such as clinical visits
Details and records about your treatment and care
Results of x-rays, laboratory test etc
Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives

It is good practice for people in the NHS who provide care to:

Discuss and agree with you what they are going to record about you
Give you a copy of letters they are writing about you
Show you what they have recorded about you, if you ask

We will only store your information in identifiable form for a long as in necessary in and in accordance with the NHS England’s Rules found within the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016 page on the NHS Digital website.

How your records are used

The people who care for you use your records to:

Provide a good basis for all health decisions made by you and care professionals
Allow you to work with those providing care
Make sure your care is safe and effective, and
Work effectively with others providing you with care

Others may also need to use records about you to:

Check the quality of care (such as clinical audit)
Protect the health of the public
Keep track of NHS spending
Manage the health service
Help investigate any concerns or complaints you or your family have about your health care
Teach health workers and
Help with research

Some information will be held centrally to be used for statistical purposes. In these instances, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

We use anonymous information, wherever possible, but on occasions we may use personally confidential information for essential NHS purposes such as research and auditing. However, this information will only be used with your consent, unless the law requires us to pass on the information.

The legal part

You have a right to privacy under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations 2016. The practice needs your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order perform our statutory health duties, in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller in compliance with Article 6 (e) of the GDPR and for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the in compliance with Article 9, (h) of the GDPR.

You have the right to ask for a copy of all records about you.

Your request should be made to the practice holding your information
We are required to respond to you within one Month
You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth NHS number etc.)

To Access your record contact

If you think anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please inform the practice as soon as possible. For other rights about the use of your information please see our website.

The practice data protection officer is and is available via:

Michelle Wiles

Black Country ICB

[email protected]

07977946628

Infection Control Statement

Named GP

Non-NHS Work

Patient Data

Are you aware that your personal medical information that you share with your GP or other healthcare professional is about to be extracted and stored on a computer outside of the control of this practice where the practice will have no say on who has access to that information?

There are changes occurring in how we protect the confidential and personal information that we record in your medical records. The changes make it a legal obligation for us to share your information (see below). The proposed benefits of sharing identifiable data are to help you plan and monitor effective patient services, especially where patients receive care from several different organisations.

What we record at our practice

Healthcare professionals in our practice record information about the care we provide.

The type of information that is recorded includes the following;

Demographics, e.g. address, telephone number, e-mail, date of birth, gender, etc.
What you tell us when you see us in consultations e.g. about your physical and psychological health and social circumstances.
Diagnoses, investigations, treatments, referrals, family background.
Social information e.g. housing status, alcohol, smoking data.
Third party sources e.g. hospital letters, A&E attendances, relatives, carers, insurance companies, solicitors.

What we already share about you

We share different types of information about our patients. These include:

Personal information about you and your illness, when needed for your direct care, e.g. referral to hospital consultants, district nurses, health visitors, midwives, counsellors, the summary care record.
Patient identifiable information to public health, in order to arrange programs for childhood immunisations, communicable diseases, cervical smears and retinal screening.
With explicit consent, personal information to other organisations outside the NHS e.g. insurance companies, benefits agencies.
Limited information about you, if relevant, to protect you and others, e.g. to social services child protection investigations.
Under certain acts of parliament to protect you and others e.g. court order.
Summary information which is anonymised (can not identify you) e.g. quality and outcome frameworks (QoF), medical research and clinical audit.

It is also important to understand that currently a limited amount of patient information or data is used mostly at local level to help design health services or undertake clinical audit.

Some information is used at a national level. Information from lots of individual patients allows the NHS to build a picture of what is happening to the nation’s health. The majority of this information is anonymised before it leaves the healthcare professional, in other words no one can identify who the information relates to.

How we protect your personal information

Currently, your GP is responsible for protecting your information and to do this they comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). As part of the DPA, all healthcare professionals have an obligation to only share information on a need to know basis.

For further information on the DPA, please view the Data Protection Act 2018 page on the Gov.uk website.

So what is changing?

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 the Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) on behalf of NHS England (the body responsible for commissioning health services across England) will be able to extract personal and identifiable information about all patients in England.

The programme, called care.data, is administered by the HSCIC using software and services provided by a private sector company. Once your identifiable information has been taken from different health organisations (GP practice, hospitals, mental health trusts) it will then be linked together to produce a complete record about you. This information will be stored on national secure servers and will be managed by HSCIC.

Although access to information will be strictly controlled, the HSCIC is planning to share this information with other organisations both NHS and private. The HSCIC will decide what information they will share and who they then share this information with.

Your GP will not be able to object to this information being released to HSCIC and will no longer be able to protect your information under the DPA as stated above.

Effectively, where the HSCIC is concerned the health and social care act over rules the DPA with regard to disclosure of personal information.

What you need to do

If you are happy for NHS England to direct the HSCIC to extract, store and manage/use your personal information then you need to do nothing as the information will be automatically taken from your GP’s computer systems.
If you don’t wish your information to be extracted then you MUST complete the document below, which will block the uploading of your identifiable and personal information to the HSCIC.
If you are happy for your information to be extracted and used by the HSCIC for anonymised reports but not shared by the HSCIC with other agencies or companies in identifiable format, you can ask your GP practice to add a code to your record which will alert the HSCIC not to use your information in this way.
It should be emphasised that your access to health care and the care that you receive will not be affected by either decision.

Opting Out

If you wish to opt-out, please contact the practice using our online Contact the Practice form.

Privacy Notice

Stourside Medical Practice Privacy Notice

Introduction

This privacy notice lets you know what happens to any personal data that you give to us, or any information that we may collect from you or about you from other organisations.

This privacy notice applies to personal information processed by or on behalf of Stourside Medical Practice

This Notice explains:

Who we are and how we use your personal information?
Information about our Data Protection Officer
What kinds of personal information we hold about you and what information we use
The legal grounds for processing your personal information, including when we share it with other organisations.
What to do if your personal information changes
For how long your personal information is retained for/stored by us
What your rights are under Data Protection laws

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18) became law on 25th May 2018. The GDPR is a single EU-wide regulation on the protection of confidential and sensitive information and the DPA18 implements the regulations into comprehensive UK legislation. Following the decision for the UK to leave the European Union and following the end of the transition period, from 1^st January 2021 the UK has been subject to an Adequacy Agreement which allows data to continue to be shared with European Union Countries without further safeguarding being necessary.  This is to allow the European Commission suitable time to grant the UK with adequacy status, meaning they have met the required standards in ensuring data transfers to and from the UK are safe.  All references to GDPR is now referred to as UK GDPR.

For the purpose of applicable data protection legislation (including UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 the practice responsible for your personal data, and referred to as the Data Controller, is Stourside Medical Practice

This notice describes how we collect, use, and process your personal data, and how in doing so, we comply with our legal obligations to you. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights.

How we use your information and the law

Stourside Medical Practice will be the “Data Controller” of your personal data.

We collect basic personal data about you, which includes name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, next of kin information, NHS number etc.

We will also collect sensitive confidential data known as “special category personal data”, in the form of health information, religious beliefs, (if required in a healthcare setting) ethnicity, sexuality etc.  and we may also receive this information about you from other health providers or third parties.

Your rights over your personal information

As an individual you have the following rights over your personal information:

Right to be informed

You have the right to be informed on how we handle, process, and share your personal information; this privacy notice ensures as a practice we satisfy this right.

Right to access your personal information

You can request access to and/or copies of the personal data we hold about you, free of charge (subject to exemptions) within one calendar month.  Such requests can be made verbally or in writing, but we do request that you provide us with adequate information to process your request, such as providing full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request and, where necessary, any documents to verify your identity.

On processing a request there may be occasions when information may be withheld if we as a practice believe that releasing the information to you could cause serious harm or distress. Information may also be withheld if another person (i.e., third party) is identified in the record, and they do not want their information disclosed to you. However, if the other person mentioned in your records was acting in their professional capacity in caring for you, in normal circumstances they could not prevent you from having access to that information.

To request a copy or request access to information we hold about you and/or to request information to be corrected if it is inaccurate, please contact us via our Practice Manager.

Right to rectification

The correction of personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete will be acted upon within one calendar month of receipt of such a request.  Please ensure Stourside Medical Practice has the correct contact details for you at all times.

Right to erasure

Under Article 17 of the UK GDPR individuals have the right to have personal data erased. This is also known as the ‘right to be forgotten’. The right is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances, for example when your personal data is no longer necessary for the purpose which it was originally collected or processed for, or if you wish to withdraw your consent after you have previously given your consent.

Right to restrict processing

Article 18 of the UK GDPR gives individuals the right to restrict the processing of their personal data in certain circumstances. This means that you can limit the way that the practice uses your data. This is an alternative to requesting the erasure of your data. Individuals have the right to restrict the processing of their personal data where they have a particular reason for wanting the restriction.

Right to data portability

The right to data portability gives individuals the right to receive personal data they have provided to the Practice in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (i.e., email, upload to a portable device etc.).

Right to object to processing

Article 21 of UK GDPR gives you the right to object to processing, however, please note if we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds which outweighs your interest, then processing can continue.  If we did not process any information about you and your health care if would be very difficult for us to care and treat you.

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

Automated individual decision-making is a decision made by automated means (i.e., a computer system) without any human involvement.  If any of the processes we use rely on automated decision making, you do have the right to ask for a human to review any computer-generated decision at any point.

Why we need your information

The healthcare professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously.  These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare and treatment.

NHS health records may be electronic, paper-based or a mixture of both.  We use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

Records about you may include the following information:

Details about you, such as your address, your carer or legal representative and emergency contact details.
Any contact the Practice has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, and emergency appointments.
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 care for you.
Contact details (including email address, mobile telephone number and home telephone number)

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive, including contacting you. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS and the services we provide. Limited information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service we provided.

How we lawfully use your data

We need your personal, sensitive, and confidential data in order to provide you with healthcare services as a General Practice, under the UK GDPR we will be lawfully using your information in accordance with:

Article 6 (1)(e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Article 9 (2) (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems.

This Privacy Notice applies to the personal data of our patients and the data you have given us about your carers/family members.

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventive intervention. Information about you is collected from several sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. The identifying parts of your data are removed, analysis of your data is undertaken, and a risk score is then determined. This is then provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on initiatives for preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness, so being far more proactive in an ever-changing health climate.  As a result of risk stratification, your GP may be able to offer you additional services.

Individual Risk Management at a GP practice level however is deemed to be part of your individual healthcare and is covered by our legal powers above.

Population Health Management

Population Health Management improves population health by data driven planning and delivery of proactive care to achieve maximum impact. It includes segmentation, stratification and impactability modelling to identify local ‘at risk’ cohorts – and, in turn, designing and targeting interventions to prevent ill-health and to improve care and support for people with ongoing health conditions and reducing unwarranted variations in outcomes.

The benefits of Population Health Management are:

Using data-driven insights and evidence of best practice to inform target interventions to improve the health & wellbeing of specific populations & cohorts
The wider determinants of health, not just health & care
Making informed judgements, not just relying on the analytics
Prioritising the use of collective resources to have the best impact
Acting together – the NHS, local authorities, public services, the VCS, communities, activists & local people. Creating partnerships of equals
Achieving practical tangible improvements for people & communities

Information about you is collected from several sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. The identifying parts of your data are removed, and an analysis of your data is undertaken. This analysis may be undertaken by external organisations who are acting on behalf of your GP Practice and have a Data Processing contract with the Practice. This is then provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form.  As a result of population health management, your GP may be able to offer you additional services.

Medicines Management

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost-effective treatments. The reviews are carried out by the Integrated Care Board’s Medicines Management Team under a Data Processing contract with the Practice.

Patient Communication

The Practice would like to use your name, contact details, and email address to inform you of NHS services, or provide inform about your health/information to manage your healthcare or information about the management of the NHS service.  There may be occasions where authorised research facilities would like you to take part in research in regard to your particular health issues, to try and improve your health. Your contact details may be used to invite you to receive further information about such research opportunities, but you must give your explicit consent to receive messages for research purposes.

Safeguarding

The Practice is dedicated to ensuring that the principles and duties of safeguarding adults and children are holistically, consistently, and conscientiously applied with the wellbeing of all patients at the heart of what we do.

Our legal basis for processing information for safeguarding purposes, as stipulated in the UK GDPR is:

Article 6(1)(e) ‘…exercise of official authority…’.

For the processing of special categories data, the basis is:

Article 9(2)(b) – ‘processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law…’

10.1 Categories of personal data

The data collected by Practice staff in the event of a safeguarding situation, will be minimised to include only the personal information as is necessary in order to handle the situation. In addition to some basic demographic and contact details, we will also process details of what the safeguarding concern is. This is likely to be special category information.

10.2 Sources of the data

The Practice will either receive or collect information when someone contacts the organisation with safeguarding concerns, or we believe there may be safeguarding concerns and make enquiries to relevant providers.

10.3 Recipients of personal data

The information is used by the Practice when handling a safeguarding incident or concern. We may share information accordingly to ensure duty of care and investigation as required with other partners such as local authorities, the police or healthcare professionals (i.e., their GP or mental health team).

Research

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) collects anonymised patient data from a network of GP practices across the UK. Primary care data is linked to a range of other health related data to provide a fully representative UK population health dataset.  You can opt out of your information being used for research purposes at any time, for full details on CRPD please visit www.cprd.com/transparency-information

General Practice Data for Planning and Research

The Government is delaying the implementation of the General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GP DPR) programme until four key areas of work are strengthened:

the ability for patients to opt out, or back in, to sharing their GP data with NHS Digital, with data being deleted even if it has been uploaded previously
the backlog of opt-outs has been fully cleared
a Trusted Research Environment (TRE) is available where approved researchers can work securely on de-identified patient data which does not leave the environment
a campaign of engagement and communication has increased public awareness of the programme, explaining how data is used and patient choices

This delay will also provide more time to speak with patients, doctors, health charities and others.

This Privacy Notice will be updated when further details of the proposed implementation have been confirmed.

For further information please refer to NHS Digitals webpage on this subject matter.

The NHS needs data about the patients it treats in order to plan and deliver its services and to ensure that care and treatment provided is safe and effective. The General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection will help the NHS to improve health and care services for everyone by collecting patient data that can be used to do this.

For example, patient data can help the NHS to:

monitor the long-term safety and effectiveness of care.
plan how to deliver better health and care services.
prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
identify new treatments and medicines through health research.

GP practices already share patient data for these purposes, but this new data collection will be more efficient and effective.  We have agreed to share the patient data we look after in our practice with NHS Digital who will securely store, analyse, publish, and share this patient data to improve health and care services for everyone.

This includes:

informing and developing health and social care policy
planning and commissioning health and care services
taking steps to protect public health (including managing and monitoring the coronavirus pandemic)
in exceptional circumstances, providing you with individual care.
enabling healthcare and scientific research

This means that we can get on with looking after our patients and NHS Digital can provide controlled access to patient data to the NHS and other organisations who need to use it to improve health and care for everyone.

Contributing to research projects will benefit us all as better and safer treatments are introduced more quickly and effectively without compromising your privacy and confidentiality.

NHS Digital has engaged with the British Medical Association (BMA), Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and the National Data Guardian (NDG) to ensure relevant safeguards are in place for patients and GP practices.

Opting Out

If you don’t want your identifiable patient data to be shared for purposes except for your own care, you can opt-out by registering a Type 1 Opt-out or a National Data Opt-out, or both. These opt-outs are different, and they are explained in more detail below. Your individual care will not be affected if you opt out using either option.

13.1 Type 1 Opt-Outs

If you do not want your identifiable patient data to be shared outside of the GP practice for purposes except your own care, you can register an opt-out with the GP practice. This is known as a Type 1 Opt-out.  Type 1 Opt-outs were introduced in 2013 for data sharing from GP practices, but may be discontinued in the future as a new opt-out has since been introduced to cover the broader health and care system, called the National Data Opt-out. If this happens, patients who have registered a Type 1 Opt-out will be informed. There is more information about National Data Opt-outs below.

NHS Digital will not collect any patient data for patients who have already registered a Type 1 Opt-in line with current policy. If this changes patients who have registered a Type 1 Opt-out will be informed.

If you do not want your patient data shared with NHS Digital for the purposes above, you can register a Type 1 Opt-out with your GP practice. You can register a Type 1 Opt-out at any time. You can also change your mind at any time and withdraw a Type 1 Opt-out.

If you have already registered a Type 1 Opt-out with us your data will not be shared with NHS Digital.  If you wish to register a Type 1 Opt-out with your us before data sharing starts with NHS Digital, this should be done by completing our Type 1 Opt-out preference form. If you do intend to opt out of the GP DPR we will update this Privacy Notice with the date by which you must provide your opt-out by to allow time for processing it.

If you have previously registered a Type 1 Opt-out and you would like to withdraw this, you can do this at any time. You can send the form by post or email to us at the Practice or call 0121 550 1010 for a form to be sent out to you.

If you do not want NHS Digital to share your identifiable patient data with anyone else for purposes beyond your own care, then you can also register a National Data Opt-out.

13.2 National Data Opt-Out

If you don’t want your confidential patient information to be shared by NHS Digital with other organisations for purposes except your own care – either GP data, or other data it holds, such as hospital data – you can register a National Data Opt-out.

If you have registered a National Data Opt-out, NHS Digital will not share any confidential patient information about you with other organisations, unless there is an exemption to this, such as where there is a legal requirement or where it is in the public interest to do so, such as helping to manage contagious diseases like coronavirus. You can find out more about exemptions on the NHS website.

There is an intention for the National Data Opt-out to apply to any confidential patient information shared by the GP practice with other organisations for purposes except your individual care. This means it will replace the Type-1 Opt-out. If this happens, patients who have registered a Type 1 Opt-out will be informed. Please note that the National Data Opt-out will not apply to confidential patient information being shared by GP practices with NHS Digital, as it is a legal requirement for us to share this data with NHS Digital and the National Data Opt-out does not apply where there is a legal requirement to share data.

You can find out more about and register a National Data Opt-out or change your choice on nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters or by calling 0300 3035678.

You can also set your opt-out preferences via the NHS App if you are registered to use this application.

13.3 The legal bases for processing this information.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 covers the sharing and collection of health and care data.  It states that when the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care needs to collect and analyse data to help the health service, they can tell NHS Digital to do this for them.  The instruction, which NHS Digital must act on, is called a direction.  In this case:

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care sent a direction to NHS Digital, instructing them to collect and analyse general practice data for health and social care purposes including policy, planning, commissioning, public health, and research purposes.

NHS Digital sent all GP practices a document called a Data Provision Notice, giving details of the data it needs GP Practices like ours to share so it can comply with the direction.  All GP Practices in England are required to share data with NHS Digital when they are sent a Data Provision Notice.

Under data protection law, we can only share patient data if we have a legal basis under Articles 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR.  Our legal basis for sharing patient data with NHS Digital is Article 6(1)(c) – legal obligation, as we are required under the 2012 Act to share it with NHS Digital.

When we are sharing patient data about health, we also need a legal basis under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.  This is:

Article 9(2)(g) – as we are sharing patient data for reasons of substantial public interest, for the purposes of NHS Digital exercising its statutory functions under the General Practice Data for Planning and Research Directions. It is substantially in the public interest to process patient data for planning and research purposes to improve health and care services for everyone. This is permitted under paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
Article 9(2)(h) – as we are sharing patient data for the purposes of providing care and managing health and social care systems and services. This is permitted under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the DPA.
Article 9(2)(i) – as patient data will also be used for public health purposes. This is permitted under paragraphs 3 of Schedule 1 of the DPA.
Article 9(2)(j) – as patient data will also be used for the purposes of scientific research and for statistical purposes. This is permitted under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 of the DPA.

Third party processors

In order to deliver the best possible service, the practice will share data (where required) with other NHS bodies such as other GP practices and hospitals. In addition, the practice will use carefully selected third party service providers. When we use a third-party service provider to process data on our behalf then we will always have an appropriate agreement in place to ensure that they keep the data secure, that they do not use or share information other than in accordance with our instructions and that they are operating appropriately. Examples of functions that may be carried out by third parties include:

Companies that provide IT services & support, including our core clinical systems; systems which manage patient facing services (such as our website and service accessible through the same); data hosting service providers; systems which facilitate appointment bookings or electronic prescription services; document management services etc.
Delivery services (for example if we were to arrange for delivery of any medicines to you).
Payment providers (if for example you were paying for a prescription or a service such as travel vaccinations).

Further details regarding specific third-party processors can be supplied on request to the practice.

How we maintain the confidentiality of your records

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

Data Protection Act 2018
The UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR)
Human Rights Act 1998
Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
Health and Social Care Act 2012
NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management
Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation 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 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.

Our practice policy is to respect the privacy of our patients, their families, and our staff and to maintain compliance with the UK GDPR and all UK specific Data Protection Requirements. Our policy is to ensure all personal data related to our patients will be protected.

All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The practice will, if required, sign a separate confidentiality agreement if the client deems it necessary.  If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for Stourside Medical Practice an appropriate contract will be established for the processing of your information.

In certain circumstances you may have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of data. Please contact the practice in writing if you wish to withdraw your consent.  In some circumstances we may need to store your data after your consent has been withdrawn to comply with a legislative requirement.

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 – the Practice will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose in an identifiable format.   In some circumstances you can Opt-out of the surgery sharing any of your information for research purposes.

With your consent we would also like to use your information

There are times that we may want to use your information to contact you or offer you services, not directly about your healthcare, in these instances we will always gain your consent to contact you.  We would however like to use your name, contact details, and email address to inform you of other services that may benefit you.  We will only do this with your consent.  There may be occasions where authorised research facilities would like you to take part on innovations, research, improving services or identifying trends, you will be asked to opt into such programmes if you are happy to do so.

At any stage where we would like to use your data for anything other than the specified purposes and where there is no lawful requirement for us to share or process your data, we will ensure that you have the ability to consent and opt out prior to any data processing taking place.
This information is not shared with third parties or used for any marketing and you can unsubscribe at any time via phone, email or by informing the practice.

Where we store your electronic information

All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.

No third parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so, and appropriate safeguards have been put in place such as a Data Processing Agreement.  We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special category data.

All patient data is held in NHS Approved Data Centres. For example, EMIS Web (our clinical system) hold your data in an AWS data warehouse.

Our partner organisations

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

NHS Trusts/Foundation Trusts
GP’s
Primary Care Networks
Integrated Care Systems (ICS)
Integrated Care Board (ICB)
Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs)
NHS Commissioning Support Units
Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
Private Sector Providers
Voluntary Sector Providers
Ambulance Trusts
Social Care Services
NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
Local Authorities
Education Services
Fire and Rescue Services
Police & Judicial Services
Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for consent for this to happen when this is required.

Invoice Validation

If you have received treatment within the NHS, access to your personal information may be required to determine which Integrated Care Board should pay for the treatment or procedure you have received.

This information would most likely include information such as your name, address, NHS number, date of treatment and may be passed on to enable the billing process. These details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information will only be used to validate invoices and will not be shared for any further purposes.

NHS Health Checks

All of our patients aged 40-74 not previously diagnosed with cardiovascular disease are eligible to be invited for an NHS Health Check. Nobody outside the healthcare team in the Practice will see confidential information about you during the invitation process and only contact details would be securely transferred to a data processor (if that method was employed). You may be ‘given the chance to attend your health check either within the practice or at a community venue. If your health check is at a community venue all data collected will be securely transferred back into the practice system and nobody outside the healthcare team in the practice will see confidential information about you during this process.

Computer System of Choice

This practice operates a Clinical Computer System of Choice on which NHS Staff record information securely.  This information can then be shared with other clinicians so that everyone caring for you is fully informed about your medical history, including allergies and medication.

To provide around the clock safe care, unless you have asked us not to, we will make information available to our Partner Organisations (as listed above).  Wherever possible, their staff will ask for your consent before your information is viewed.

Shared Care Records

To support your care and improve the sharing of relevant information to our partner organisations when they are involved in looking after you, we will share information to other systems.  You have a right to object of this sharing of your records with our partners at any time if this sharing is based on your consent.

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.  All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. If a subcontractor acts as a data processor for Stourside Medical Practice an appropriate contract will be established for the processing of your information.

Sharing your information without consent

We will normally ask you for your consent, but there are times when we may be required by law to share your information without your consent, for example:

where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people.
Safeguarding matters and investigations
where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented.
notification of new births
where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS)
where a formal court order has been issued
where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence.

How long we store your information for

We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records Management Code of Practice for health and social care and national archives requirements.

More information on records retention can be found in the NHS Records Management Code of Practice 2021

22.1 Destruction of records/information

This will only happen following a review of the information at the end of its retention period. Where data has been identified for disposal, we have the following responsibilities:

to ensure that information held in manual form is destroyed using a cross-cut shredder or contracted to a reputable confidential waste company that complies with European Standard EN15713 and obtain certificates of destruction.
to ensure that electronic storage media used to store, or process information are destroyed or overwritten to national standards.

Primary Care Networks

The objective of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) is for group practices working together to create more collaborative workforces which ease the pressure of GP’s, leaving them better able to focus on patient care. The aim is for all areas within England to be covered by a PCN.

Primary Care Networks form a key building block of the NHS long-term plan. Bringing general practices together to work at scale has been a policy priority for some years for a range of reasons, including improving the ability of practices to recruit and retain staff; to manage financial and estates pressures; to provide a wider range of services to patients and to integrate with the wider health and care system more easily.

All GP practices are expected to come together in geographical networks covering populations of approximately 30–50,000 patients and take advantage of additional funding attached to the GP contract.

This means the practice may share your information with other practices within the PCN to provide you with your care and treatment.

Stourside Medical Practice is a member of the Halesowen PCN which includes the following local GP Practices:

St Margarets Well Medical Practice
Lapal Medical Practice
Feldon Lane Medical Practice
Alexandra Medical Practice
Stourside Medical Practice

Access to your personal information

You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the Practice holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. For any request you should:

Make your request directly to the practice. (For information from a hospital or other Trust/ NHS organisation you should write/email directly to them).
Be aware that there is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you.
Be aware that information must be released to you within one calendar month (unless in exceptional circumstances, which you will be informed of a part of the process).
Be aware you may be asked for key information to process the request (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records retrieved.

What to do if your personal information changes

You should tell us so that we can update our records as we are required to keep accurate and up-to-date records at all times.  Please contact the Practice as soon as any of your details change, this is especially important for changes of address or contact details (such as your mobile phone number).   The practice will, from time to time, ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up to date.

Objections/Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed or wish to object to any of the data collection at the Practice, please contact the Practice Manager or your healthcare professional to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be restricted. All patients have the right to change their minds and reverse a previous decision. Please contact the Practice if you change your mind regarding any previous choice.

If you would like to make a ‘data subject access request’ please contact the practice in writing. We will endeavour to respond to your request within one calendar month or two months if the request is complex.

Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and on the Practice notice board.

Suspected breaches in data protection can be reported to the Practice Data Protection Officer, Michelle K Wiles, [email protected]. Breaches in data protection will result in an incident investigation. Serious breaches will be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

It is the responsibility of all employees of the Practice to report suspected breaches of information security to the Practice Manager and Data Protection Officer without delay.

The Practice is registered as a data controller with the ICO. The registration number is Z9532278 and can be viewed online in the public register or by contacting the ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

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 Data Protection Officer, Caldicott Guardian or IG Lead.

If you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data that we hold about you, please use the contact details below:

IG Lead: Dr Ruth Hearn

Caldicott Guardian: Dr Ruth Hearn

Data Protection Officer: Michelle Wiles, Information Governance Manager – Black Country

Useful Links

Please find below some links to external web pages which you may wish to access to find out additional information:

Records Management Code of Practice

Proxy Access

Proxy access was developed to allow someone other than the patient to access and manage parts of their GP online services account. The person acting on behalf of the patient for example a parent or carer (the proxy) is given their own online access account (rather than using the patient’s login details).

To obtain proxy access a person must be registered for online access at the practice where the patient they are acting for is registered. Proxy access is the recommended alternative to sharing login details. Every practice is required to verify patient identity documentation, or individually vouch for each patient requesting access to online services.

Please contact the practice who will advise how to request Proxy Access.

Suggestions, Comments and Complaints

Our aim is to provide the highest level of care for all our patients. We will always be willing to hear if there is any way that you think that we can improve the service we provide.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

If you would like to give us any feedback or wish to make a complaint, please complete our Feedback and Complaints Triage.

We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

Taking Your Complaint Further

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the Black Country Integrated Care Board as the commissioner of the service. if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us directly in the first instance.

Telephone: 0300 0120 281

Email: [email protected]

Writing to them at:

Time2Talk,

NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) Civic Centre,

St Peter’s Square,

Wolverhampton,

WV1 1SH

Complaints and Client Services Managers NHS England

Telephone: 0300 311 22 33