Privacy notice
Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust takes your confidentiality and privacy rights very seriously. This notice explains how we collect, process, transfer and store your personal information and forms part of our accountability and transparency to you under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.
How will we meet the Principles of the
GDPR?
We will process your personal information fairly
and lawfully by;
a) Only using it if we
have a lawful reason and when we do, we make sure you know how we
intend to use it and tell you about your rights;
We do not rely on consent to use your
information as a 'legal basis for processing'. We rely on specific
provisions under Article 6 and 9 of the General Data Protection
Regulation, such as:
'…a task carried out in the public
interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the
controller.', and
'…medical diagnosis, the provision of
health or social care or treatment or the management of health or
social care systems…'
This means we can use your personal information
to provide you with your care without seeking your consent.
However, you do have the right to say 'NO' to our use of your
information but this could have an impact on our ability to provide
you with care.
b) Only collecting and
using your information to provide you with your care and treatment
and will not use it for anything else that is not considered by law
to be for this purpose;
c) Only using enough of
your personal information that will be relevant and necessary for
us to carry out various tasks within the delivery of your care;
d) Keeping your
information accurate and up to date when using it and if it is
found to be wrong, we will make it right, where appropriate, as
soon as we can;
e) Only keeping your
information in a way that it will identify you for as long as we
are legally required to, whilst ensuring your rights;
f) Having secure
processes in place to keep your personal information safe when it
is being used, shared, and when it is being stored.
What information do we collect from you?
Health and social care professionals working
with you - such as doctors, nurses, support workers, psychologists,
occupational therapists, social workers and other staff involved in
your care - keep records about your health and any care and
treatment you receive. This may include:
- Basic details such as name, address, date of birth, phone
number, mobile number, email address - where you have provided it
to enable us to communicate with you by email.
- Your next of kin and contact details
- Notes and reports about your physical or mental health and any
treatment, care or support you need and receive
- Results of your tests and diagnosis
- Relevant information from other professionals, relatives or
those who care for you or know you well
- Any contacts you have with us such as home visits or outpatient
appointments
- Information on medicines, side effects and allergies
- Patient experience feedback and treatment outcome information
you provide
Why do we collect this information about you?
Your information is used to guide and record the
care you receive and is vital in helping us to;
- have all the information necessary for assessing your needs and
for making decisions with you about your care
- have details of our contact with you, such as referrals and
appointments and can see the services you have received
- can assess the quality of care we give you
- can properly investigate if you and your family have a concern
or a complaint about your healthcare
- The Trust operates a text appointment reminder service and you
have the option to opt out either by speaking to a member of staff,
or opting out when you receive an appointment reminder text.
- To provide feedback on your experience to the Trust, you will
be contacted by an NHS approved company commissioned by the
Trust. If you are an outpatient they will contact you by text
or interactive voicemail. If you are an inpatient the ward staff
will give you a questionnaire which will be either in paper format
or electronic using one of the Trust's tablets. You can opt out
from this process either for a particular hospital attendance or
permanently by informing a member of Trust staff who will advise
the Information Department to remove your consent.
Professionals involved in your care will also
have accurate and up-to-date information and this accurate
information about you is also available if you:
- Move to another area
- Need to use another service
- See a different healthcare professional
Who might we share your information with?
Health and Social Care
Professionals - Your information will be shared with
the team who are caring for you and are providing treatment to
you.
However, the NHS and other agencies, including
social services and private healthcare organisations work together
so we may need to share information about you, with other
professionals and services involved in your care. We do
this in order to provide the most appropriate treatment and support
for you, and your carers, or when the welfare of other people is
involved. We will only share your information in this way if we
have your consent and it is considered necessary.
You have the right to refuse/withdraw your consent to
information sharing at any time. Please discuss this with your
relevant health care professional as this could have implications
in how you receive further care, including delays in you receiving
care.
We may also have to share your information,
subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the
following organisations;
- NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
- GPs
- Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians,
pharmacists
- Private Sector Providers
- Voluntary Sector Providers
- Ambulance Trusts
- Clinical Commissioning Groups
- Social Care Services
- NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)
- Local Authorities
- Education Services
- Fire and Rescue Services
- Police & Judicial Services
- Other 'data processors' which you will be informed of
However, a person's right to confidentiality is
not absolute and there may be other circumstances when we must
share information from your patient record with other agencies. In
these rare circumstances we are not required to have your consent.
Examples of this are:
- If there is a concern that you are putting yourself at risk of
serious harm
- If there is concern that you are putting another person at risk
of serious harm
- If there is concern that you are putting a child at risk of
harm
- If we have been instructed to do so by a Court
- If the information is essential for the investigation of a
serious crime
- If you are subject to the Mental Health Act (1983), there are
circumstances in which your 'nearest relative' must receive
information even if you object
- If your information falls within a category that needs to be
notified for public health or other legal reasons, such as certain
infectious diseases
The information from your patient record will
only be used for purposes that benefit your care - we would never
share it for marketing or insurance purposes.
NHS Patient Survey Programme
(NPSP) is part of the government's commitment to
ensure patient feedback is used to inform the improvement and
development of NHS services. We may share your contact information
with an NHS approved contractor to be used for the purpose of the
NPSP.
NHS Digital, on behalf of NHS England, assess
the effectiveness of the care provided by publicly-funded services
- we have to share information from your patient record such as
referrals, assessments, diagnoses, activities (e.g. taking a blood
pressure test) and in some cases, your answers to questionnaires on
a regular basis to meet our NHS contract obligations.
You have the right to object to us sharing your
information to NHS Digital - this will not affect your care in any
way. For information about how you can Opt-Out of sharing your data
with NHS Digital please visit the NHS Digital National Data Opt-Out
Programme Website.
We carry out regular patient surveys to support
care improvement which are facilitated by the Trust and there are
times where we may share your contact information with an NHS
approved contractor for this purpose.
Improving Health, Care and Services through
Planning
To help us monitor our performance, evaluate and
develop the services we provide, it is necessary to review and
share minimal information, for example with the NHS Clinical
Commissioning Groups. The information we share would be anonymous
so you cannot be identified and all access to and use of this
information is strictly controlled.
We carry out a programme of clinical
audits. Access to your patient records for this purpose is
monitored and only anonymous information is used in any reports
that are shared internally within our Trust and with external audit
centres.
Improving Health, Care and Services through
Research
The Trust actively promotes research with a view
to improving future care. Researchers can improve how physical and
mental health can be treated and prevented.
If we use your patient information for research,
we remove your name and all other personal data which would
identify you. If we need the information in a form that would
personally identify you, we would ask for your permission
first.
How we keep your information safe?
We are committed to keeping your information
secure and have operational policies and procedures in place to
protect your information whether it is in a hardcopy or electronic
format.
This Trust is registered to the Information
Commissioner's Office; registration number Z1972899
All of the Information Systems used by our Trust
are implemented with robust information security safeguards to
protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your
personal information. The security controls adopted by the Trust
are influenced by a number of sources including the 10 National
Data Guardian Standards and guidelines produced by NHS Digital and
other Government standards.
All employees and our partner organisations are
legally bound to respect your confidentiality, all staff must
comply with our security operating procedures. Any breach of these
is treated seriously, and could result in disciplinary action,
including dismissal.
If any of your personal information is to be processed overseas
(i.e. outside the EU) a full risk assessment would be undertaken to
ensure the security of the information.
Where do we store your information Electronically?
All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in
the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this
information may be located on servers within the European
Union.
No 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law
allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in
place. We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee
the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special
category (sensitive, confidential) data.
How long do we keep your information?
All records held by the NHS are subject to the
Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care Act
2016 (the Code). The Code sets out best practice guidance on how
long we should keep your patient information before we are able to
review and securely dispose of it.
How can I access the information you hold about
me?
You have a right to see the information we hold
about you, both on paper or electronic, except for information
that:
- Has been provided about you by someone else if they haven't
given permission for you to see it
- Relates to criminal offences
- Is being used to detect or prevent crime
- Could cause physical or mental harm to you or someone else
Your request must be made in writing and we will
request proof of identity before we can disclose personal
information.
All applications for access to health records
must be made in writing or email, and given to the service where
you receive your care or alternatively sent to:
The Access to Health Records Clerk
Health Records Department
Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Prittlewell Chase
Westcliff-on-Sea
Essex
SS0 0RY
Tel: 01702 435555 ext 8007
Complaints and Patient Experience Team
The team are available to assist you with your
comments, concerns and complaints. The team act independently of
clinical teams to ensure your concerns are investigated and
responded to in an effective and timely manner. Contact details
are:
Complaints and Patient Experience TeamSouthend
University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Prittlewell Chase,
Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 0RY
01702 435555 ext 5144/6449
complaints@southend.nhs.uk
PALS@southend.nhs.uk
To get further advice or to report a concern
directly to the UK's independent authority you can do this by
making contacting with:
Information Commissioner's
Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/
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