Privacy Policy

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received. This can include care received within the GP practice, NHS Trusts, Walk-in clinics, Urgent Care centres, and GP Practices which we may run. These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) is a registered data controller and must notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of all personal information processing activities. Our ICO Data Protection Register can be found on the ICO register.

What Type of Personal Data Is Used?

NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technologies to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which this organisation holds about you may include the following information;

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Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details and NHS number
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Any contact the organisation has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc
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Notes and reports about your health
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Details about your treatment and care
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Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, images etc
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Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you
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Sensitive information, such as racial, ethnic origin, religious beliefs and sexual orientation
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Criminal offence information and/or safeguarding

How Is Your Data Used?

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care and treatment you receive. Information held about you may also be used to protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used within City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) for clinical audits to monitor the quality of the service provided.

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. This information can be used by other NHS statutory organisations to improve and develop services and information is de-identified so that your personal identifiable information is not seen.

All patients who receive NHS care are registered on a national database. The database is held securely by NHS England, a national organisation which has legal responsibilities to collect NHS data.

Purposes for Using Your Information

To Meet your Healthcare Needs

In line with our statutory duty, information is processed to provide direct health or social care to individual patients. When a patient agrees to a referral for direct care, such as to a hospital, relevant information about you will be shared with the other healthcare organisations and staff to enable them to give appropriate advice, investigations, treatment and/or other care. This will include providing details of prescription information to pharmacists and advising you of other beneficial health information.

Quality and Clinical Audit

Your information may be used within City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) for the purpose of clinical audit, to monitor the quality of the services we provide and improve care.

Accessible Information Standard and Translation Services

In line with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) which was introduced in July 2015, City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) to ensure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss receive information that they can access and understand. For example, in large print, braille or via email or professional communication support if it is required. i.e. British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Safeguarding Adults and Children

Sometimes, health and social care professionals may need to share information so that other people, including healthcare staff, children or other safeguarding needs are protected from risk of harm.

These circumstances are rare and we do not need your consent or agreement to do this.

City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) is committed to working in partnership with local authorities and the ICBs safeguarding team to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities.

Staff and Job Applications

When individuals apply to work at City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) the information is used to process applications and recruit staff. Where City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) to disclose information to a third party, for example, to gain a reference, or to obtain a ‘disclosure’ from the Disclosure and Barring Service, City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) will not do so without informing the applicant beforehand, unless the disclosure is required by law.

Once a person has taken up employment City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) will maintain an employment file. The information contained in this file will be kept secure and will only be used for purposes directly relevant to that person’s employment.

What Is The Lawful Basis For Processing Your Information?

The General Data Protection Regulations 2018, (Article 6(1) (a), 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(h) legally provides City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) the right to process your information. The NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2021 invests statutory functions on City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) to promote and provide the health services in England, improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training.

To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with current data protection legislation to:

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Protect your vital interests
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Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the individual is a child or a vulnerable adult
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Perform tasks in the public’s interest
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Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis and medical research
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Manage the health and social care system and services

Healthcare staff will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence.

Your information will only be shared if it is appropriate for the provision of your care or required to satisfy our statutory function and legal obligations.

National Data Opt Out

City & Hackney Integrated Primary Care (IPC) complies with the requirements of the National Data Opt Out and where this is applies will apply this to your information.

For further information and support relating to the National Data Opt out please visit the following website https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

How Do I Gain Access To My Personal Information?

You have a right to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the City of Hackney Office of PCNs holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. You are able to either view or receive copies of records held in electronic or paper format.

To request access to any of your information please request this by submitting a request to our Data Protection Officer.

As well as the right to have access to your personal information, under GDPR you have further rights to exercise any of these please contact our Data Protection Officer.

Other Additional Information Rights

Medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records are kept can be found at:

Records management: code of practice for health and social care - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Corporate records are also kept in line with the Records Management Code of Practice.

How Long Do We Keep Your Information

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at City of Hackney Office of PCNs

If you are still unhappy you can contact the Information Commissioners Office. https://ico.org.uk/

The Information Commissioners Office is a UK independent body which has been established to uphold information rights for individuals.

What To Do If You Have Any Questions