Your information – how we use it
Why we collect information about you
Ashburn Medical Centre keeps records about the healthcare and treatment patients receive. This helps to ensure that patients receive the best possible care from us.
How we keep your records confidential
Everyone working for the NHS must comply with the Common Law Duty of Confidence. Information you provide in confidence will only be used for the purposes explained to you and to which you consented, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.
Ashburn Medical Centre complies with the NHS Confidentiality Code of Conduct. All our staff are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared.
Ashburn Medical Centre holds information about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
How your personal information is used to improve the NHS
Your information will also help us manage the NHS and protect the health of the public by :
- review the care we provide to ensure it is of the highest standard and quality, e.g. through audit or service improvement
- ensure our services can meet patient needs in the future
- investigate patient queries, complaints and legal claims
- prepare statistics on performance
- audit accounts and services
- undertake health research and development (with your consent – you may choose whether or not to be involved)
- train and educate healthcare professionals
Sharing information with other NHS organisations
We share your personal information with other NHS organisations. For example, we may share your information for healthcare purposes with health authorities, other NHS trusts, general practitioners (GPs), ambulance services and primary care agencies
Information sharing with non-NHS organisations
We may need to share information from your health records with other non-NHS organisations from which you are also receiving care, such as Social Services. However, we will not disclose any health information to third parties without your explicit consent unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires it.
We may also be asked by other statutory bodies to share basic information about you, such as your name and address, but not sensitive information from your health records. This would normally be to assist them to carry out their statutory duties. In these circumstances, where it is not practical to obtain your explicit consent, we are informing you through this notice, which is referred to as a Fair Processing Notice, under the Data Protection Act.
These non-NHS organisations may include, but are not restricted to:
- Social Services
- education services
- local authorities
- the police
- voluntary sector providers
- private sector providers