Privacy Notice – Direct Care, (routine care and referrals)
East Quay Vision – May 2018
Plain English explanation
The records we keep to enable us to look after you.
East Quay Vision keeps data on you relating to who you are, where you live, what you do, your family, possibly your friends, your employers, your habits, your problems and diagnoses, the reasons you seek help, your appointments, where you are seen and when you are seen, who by, referrals to specialists and other healthcare providers, tests carried out here and in other places, investigations and scans, treatments and outcomes of treatments, your treatment history, the observations and opinions of other healthcare workers, within and without the NHS as well as comments and aide memoires reasonably made by healthcare professionals in this practice who are appropriately involved in your health care.
Opticians have always delegated tasks and responsibilities to others that work with them in their practices. It is not possible for the Optician to provide hands on personal care for each and every one of those patients in those circumstances, for this reason they share your care with others, predominantly within the practice but occasionally with outside organisations.
If your health needs require care from others elsewhere outside this practice we will exchange with them whatever information about you that is necessary for them to provide that care. When you make contact with healthcare providers outside the practice but within the NHS it is usual for them to send us information relating to that encounter. We will retain part or all of those reports. Normally we will receive equivalent reports of contacts you have with non NHS services but this is not always the case.
Your consent to this sharing of data, within the practice and with those others outside the practice is assumed and is allowed by the Law.
People who have access to your information will only normally have access to that which they need to fulfil their roles and there are safeguards in place such as detailed audit trails, permissions as well as contractual safeguards in employment contracts.
You have the right to object to our sharing your data in these circumstances but we have an overriding responsibility to do what is in your best interests. Please see below.
We are required by Articles in the General Data Protection Regulations to provide you with the information in the following 9 subsections.
1) Data Controller contact details
East Quay Vision Limited
East Quay
Bridgwater
Somerset
TA6 4GP
2) Data Protection Officer contact details
These details are currently being confirmed for the new regulations. For now, please contact the Practice Manager.
3) Purpose of the processing
Direct Care is care delivered to the individual alone, most of which is provided in the practice. After a patient agrees to a referral for direct care elsewhere, such as a referral to a specialist in a hospital, necessary and relevant information about the patient, their circumstances and their problem will need to be shared with the other healthcare workers, such as specialist, therapists, technicians etc. The information that is shared is to enable the other healthcare workers to provide the most appropriate advice, investigations, treatments, therapies and or care.
4) Lawful basis for processing
The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this surgery and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the GDPR:
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.
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…”
Organisations and their employees will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence
5) Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data
The data will be shared with Health and care professionals and support staff in this practice and at hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centres who contribute to your personal care. Typically this is Musgrove Park Hospital (including Bridgwater Community Hospital) but could also include Weston Area Healthcare Trust, Yeovil District Hospital, Shepton Mallet Treatment Centre, United Bristol Healthcare Trust, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Royal United Hospital in Bath, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, South West Ambulance Service Trust and Somerset Partnership. This list is not however exhaustive as sometimes specialist services are also involved.
6) Rights to object
You have the right to object to some or all the information being processed under Article 21. Please contact the Practice Manager at East Quay Vision. You should be aware that this is a right to raise an objection, that is not the same as having an absolute right to have your wishes granted in every circumstance
7) Right to access and correct
You have the right to access the data that is being shared and have any inaccuracies corrected. There is no right to have accurate medical records deleted except when ordered by a court of Law.
8) Retention period
The data will be retained in line with the law and national guidance. https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016
or speak to the practice.
9) Right to Complain.
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, you can use this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
or calling their helpline Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)
There are National Offices for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, (see ICO website)