GDPR Privacy Notice
Under the GDPR (general data protection regulation) which came into force on 25th May 2018, the Practice is obliged to publish its Privacy Policy. Please see all information on Our Privacy Policies below.
Under the GDPR (general data protection regulation) which came into force on 25th May 2018, the Practice is obliged to publish its Privacy Policy. Please see all information on Our Privacy Policies below.
The information we hold about you is solely for the purpose of caring for your health and will only be seen by those who need to. There is a possibility of patient information being used by other organisations for the purpose of managing your care or the management of health care services. In addition, recent changes to IT and NHS policy have made it possible to share information with other healthcare professionals e.g. hospitals.
Privacy Notice for Patients aged between 13-16
Winscombe and Banwell Family Practice has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you at the practice. We collect records about your health and the treatment you receive, in both electronic and paper format.
We are required to provide you with this privacy notice by law. It explains how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect, store and hold about you. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, are unclear about how we process or use your personal information, or have any other issue regarding your personal and healthcare information, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Caroline Dominey-Strange, at caroline.dominey-strange@nhs.net.
The main things the law says we must tell you about what we do with your personal data are:
We will use your information so that we can check and review the quality of care we provide. This helps us improve our services to you.
We will share relevant information from your medical record with other health or social care staff or organisations when they provide you with care. For example, your GP will share information when they refer you to a specialist in a hospital, or will send details about your prescription to your chosen pharmacy.
Healthcare staff working in A&E and out of hours care will also have access to your information. For example, it is important that staff who are treating you in an emergency know if you have any allergic reactions. This will involve the use of your Summary Care Record, which is explained further down this page.
You have the right to object to information being shared for your own care. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected.
All patients who receive NHS care are registered on a national database, the NHS Spine. The Spine is held and maintained nationally, and the body that holds it has legal responsibilities to collect NHS data.
Your medical records will be searched by a computer programme so that we can identify patients who might be at high risk from certain diseases, such as heart disease, or of unplanned admissions to hospital. This means we can offer patients additional care or support as early as possible.
This process will involve linking information from your GP record with information from other health or social care services you have used. Information which identifies you will only be seen by the practice.
Sometimes we need to share information so that other people, including healthcare staff, children or others with safeguarding needs, are protected from risk of harm. These circumstances are rare, and we do not need your consent or agreement to do this.
The practice shares information from medical records to support medical research when the law allows us to do so – for example, to learn more about why people get ill and what treatments might work best. We will also use your medical records to carry out research within the practice.
The use of information from GP medical records is very useful in developing new treatments and medicines. Medical researchers use information from these records to help answer important questions about illnesses and disease, so that improvements can be made to the care and treatment patients receive.
You have the right to object to your identifiable information being used or shared for medical research purposes. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object.
The practice contributes to national clinical audits so that healthcare can be checked and reviewed. Information from medical records can help doctors and other healthcare workers to measure and check the quality of care that is provided to you.
The results of the checks or audits can show where organisations are doing well and where they need to improve. These results are also used to recommend improvements to patient care.
Data is sent to the national body with legal responsibilities to collect data. The data will include information about you, such as your NHS number and date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form – for example, the code for diabetes or high blood pressure.
We will only share your information for national clinical audits or checking purposes when the law allows. For more information about national clinical audits, see the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership website, or telephone 020 7997 7370.
You have the right to object to your identifiable information being shared for national clinical audits. Please contact the practice if you wish to object.
Data controller
Winscombe and Banwell Family Practice (the partners). Please contact us via the Practice Manager.
Data Protection Officer
Caroline Dominey-Strange, caroline.dominey-strange@nhs.net (external DPO service).
Purpose of the processing
To give direct health or social care to individual patients. For example, when a patient agrees to a referral for direct care, such as to a hospital, relevant information about the patient will be shared with the other healthcare staff to enable them to give appropriate advice, investigations, treatments and care. To check and review the quality of care (audit and clinical governance). Medical research, and to check the quality of care that is given to patients (national clinical audit).
Lawful basis for processing
These purposes are supported under the following sections of the UK GDPR: Article 6(1)(e), processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority; and Article 9(2)(h), necessary for the purposes of preventative 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.
The following sections mean that we can use medical records for research and to check the quality of care: 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. For medical research there are two possible Article 9 conditions: Article 9(2)(a), the data subject has given explicit consent; or Article 9(2)(j), processing necessary for scientific research purposes in the public interest, with a basis in law under the Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, paragraph 4. Healthcare staff will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence.
Recipients of the processed data
The data will be shared with healthcare professionals and staff at the practice; local hospitals; out of hours services; diagnostic and treatment centres; and other organisations involved in the provision of direct care to individual patients. For medical research, the data will be shared with Pier Health Group. For national clinical audits that check the quality of care, the data will be shared with the national data collection body.
Right to object, and the national data opt-out
You have the right to object to information being shared between those who are providing you with direct care. This may affect the care you receive – please speak to the practice. You are not able to object to your name, address and other demographic information being sent nationally; this is necessary if you wish to be registered to receive NHS care. You are not able to object when information is legitimately shared for safeguarding reasons. In appropriate circumstances, it is a legal and professional requirement to share information for safeguarding reasons, to protect people from harm, and the information will be shared with the local safeguarding service. The national data opt-out gives you an easy way to opt out of information that identifies you being used or shared for medical research purposes and quality checking or audit purposes. There is more about this in the next section.
Right to access and correct
You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. Please speak to a member of staff, or see our Access to Medical Records Policy. We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record, although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information, and to contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period
Records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information about how long records are kept can be found in the Records Management Code of Practice.
Right to complain
You have the right to complain to us about how we handle your personal information. You can do this by emailing the practice at bnssg.winscombebanwellsurgery@nhs.net. We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days, investigate without undue delay, keep you informed, and tell you the outcome. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time, whether or not you have complained to us first. The ICO helpline is 0303 123 1113.
Data we get from other organisations
We receive information about your health from other organisations that are involved in providing you with health and social care. For example, if you go to hospital for treatment or an operation, the hospital will send us a letter to let us know what happened. This means your GP medical record is kept up to date when you receive care from other parts of the health service.
If, after reading the information you still wish to Opt Out, you can do this yourself online without contacting the practice, click on this link to do this online here: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice/
There is also a national phone number where you can make this choice, the information can be found here: Other ways to make a choice about sharing data from your health records – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Please try to make your opt out choice using the on line options or calling the national number so that our staff can continue to focus their efforts on providing care for our patients.
There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.
Why do I need a Summary Care Record?
Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.
This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.
Who can see it?
Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.
How do I know if I have one?
Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP
Do I have to have one?
No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.
Please ask at reception for more information on the Summary Care Record (national scheme) and Connecting Care (local scheme across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset). You have the right to opt out of information sharing. We have a legal duty to keep confidential all the information held about you. The obligations the NHS has, together with the rights that every individual enjoys, are set out in the Data Protection Act 1988. If you have any questions about patient confidentiality please contact the Practice Manager. Protecting your personal information is of paramount importance.
Information about accessing your health records can be found here. Please also download this Patient Leaflet which has information you need to be aware of before requesting access to your records.
To opt out, please complete form and return to Surgery.
Our Practice is taking part in the national project about diabetes care and treatment in the NHS. This is called the National Diabetes Audit (NDA). We will be sharing information about patients who are diagnosed with diabetes with the NDA. The type of information and how it is shared is controlled by law and enforced by strict rules of confidentiality and security. Taking part in the NDA demonstrates our commitment to improving care for people with diabetes.
Important : if you are a diabetic and do not want your data to be used for the NDA, please let us know – this will not affect your care. Please ask us if you want more information about the NDA.
ACR project for patients with diabetes (and/or other conditions)
The data is being processed for the purpose of delivery of a programme, sponsored by NHS England, to monitor urine for indications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) which is recommended to be undertaken annually for patients at risk of chronic kidney disease e.g., patients living with diabetes. The programme enables patients to test their kidney function from home. We will share your contact details with Healthy.io to enable them to contact you and send you a test kit. This will help identify patients at risk of kidney disease and help us agree any early interventions that can be put in place for the benefit of your care. Healthy.io will only use your data for the purposes of delivering their service to you. If you do not wish to receive a home test kit from Healthy.io we will continue to manage your care within the Practice. Healthy.io are required to hold data we send them in line with retention periods outlined in the Records Management code of Practice for Health and Social Care. Further information about this is available at: https://lp.healthy.io/minuteful_info/.
We use Heidi for clinical documentation and, where enabled, for certain non‑clinical meetings such as team or HR sessions. Heidi is a documentation aid for qualified and registered clinicians. It is not a clinical decision‑making tool and does not replace medical assessment. Clinicians are responsible for ensuring any notes accurately reflect the encounter. Patient audio is not retained; audio is streamed for transcription and discarded immediately after processing. We may share limited personal data about Heidi service usage with One Care so they can provide organisation‑level analytics and shared services to participating practices. For these activities, One Care processes personal data on our behalf under terms compliant with UK GDPR. Data shared are minimised for the stated purpose and do not include clinical note content unless strictly necessary and minimised.
Participants are notified at the start of non‑clinical sessions. Data is processed within the UK and protected by appropriate technical and organisational measures. Transcripts, draft notes, and generated documents are subject to organisation‑controlled automatic deletion between 1 and 90 days; clinicians can also delete manually at any time.