HOW WE USE INFORAMTION ABOUT YOU
The information about your health that we keep in your records is used to ensure that you receive the best possible care from us. If you are receiving care from other agencies as well as the NHS we may need to share some information about you so that we can all work together for your benefit.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, for example when the health and safety of others are at risk, we will not disclose your information to third parties without your consent. In some circumstances we are required by law to report certain information; for example notification of births and deaths, certain infectious diseases and or where a formal court order has been issued.
Your details may also be anonymised as appropriate to support other medical purposes e.g. helping staff to review the care they provide to make sure it is of the highest standard and training and educating staff
We are currently involved in research studies for which we provide anonymised information from patient's notes. You cannot be identified in any way from this information as none of your personal details are given to researchers. The database to which we contribute anonymised records is known as The Health Improvement Network (THIN) The data is used for research into such topics as drug safety, disease patterns, prescribing patterns, health economics and public health. Many of these studies provide useful information to medical staff on diseases, the use od drugs or outcomes of disease or treatment.
These studies may be performed by academic researchers or commercial companies amongst others. However, no researcher has access to your full details, such as your name and address, your initials or you full date of bith. The researchers are not given information on the GP nor the practice name, address or postcode.
If you would like to opt out of this data collection scheme, please let your doctor know and no data from your records will be collected or used in any research. This will not affect your care in any way.
The company holding the anonymous data will be providing the data to authorised researchers for a data fee. The data collection scheme has been approved by the South East Multicentre Research Ethics Committee. The Committee will also be overseeing all research conducted on the data.
The database will hold data on millions of patients, and no patient will be traceable to anyone outside this practice.
You have a right of access to your health records, although in certain circumstances your right to see some details may be limited. If you wish to request access please contact the practice manager for more informaion.
