How we use your information
Trust privacy notice
Informing you how we use your information
A leaflet has been created to inform patients about what information the Trust collects about them and how the Trust uses it. This leaflet is made available for patients in all public areas within the Hospital and can be obtained in digital format here. Further details on this can be found below.
We, Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, are the Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect information from you and may receive information about you from other healthcare providers. We hold this personal data as detailed below. Click on the blue links for more information.
Your Information
| Name, address, date of birth Click here for more information |
| The Trust collects your name, address and date of birth to enable the Trust to send you letters about your care e.g. appointment letters. Additionally, your name, address and date of birth are used to identify you and distinguish you from other patients. A change of name or incorrect date of birth can result in misidentification. |
| Next of kinClick here for more information |
The Trust collects details of your next of kin as a person you would like to be contacted in an emergency. The person you name as a next of kin has no legal right to any confidential information held by the Trust about you or to make any decisions about your care. An individual who wishes to make a decision about your care must obtain the appropriate legal Power of Attorney.
When a patient dies in the hospital, the Trust will contact the patient’s relatives and/or the named next of kin to provide information on the bereavement services managed by the Trust e.g. bereavement meeting with an Emergency Department Consultant or the annual Memorial Service. If a named next of kin or patient’s relative does not wish to be contacted in this way, they should inform the member of staff involved with the care of their relative.
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| Telephone numbersClick here for more information |
The Trust will collect contact telephone numbers for you which will be used to contact you about your care. The Trust will use any mobile telephone number provided to send a text message reminder of a forthcoming appointment. If you do not wish for your mobile number to be used in this way, please contact the Trust’s Information Governance Department:
Email:
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Telephone: 01276 604 675. |
| EthnicityClick here for more information |
| The Trust is legally required to collect your ethnicity to ensure that the Trust provides a fair, open organisation where all patients receive equal treatment. An individual’s ethnicity can also have a bearing on the type of illnesses an individual is susceptible to. Anonymised information on patient’s illnesses/disease and their ethnicity is passed by the Trust to the Department of Health who shares this information with the World Health Organisation to identify patterns in illness or diseases. |
| Disability, Language preferencesClick here for more information |
| This information is collected to enable the Trust to provide care which meets your needs e.g. accommodate wheelchair users, provision of an interpreter. |
| ReligionClick here for more information |
| The Trust offers all patients a Chaplaincy service. Your Religion is passed to the Trust Chaplains who run this service to enable them to visit you whilst in hospital to ensure the pastoral and spiritual needs of patients, their families and staff members are adequately addressed. |
| Information relating to your healthcare/treatment provided by the Trust such as outpatient clinic visits, stays in hospital, appointment letters, notes and reports relating to your health and treatmentClick here for more information |
| The Trust maintains detailed manual and electronic records about all your outpatient and inpatient visits to the Trust. This information is shared amongst the clinical staff employed by the Trust providing your care. |
| Results of x-rays, bloods and any other testsClick here for more information |
| As part of your care, you may have provided samples e.g. urine, blood, etc. which will be processed by the Trust’s laboratory, or, if a specialised test, with a partner laboratory. The results of these tests are stored by the Trust. The Trust is part of Pathology Partnership Services. Further guidance on the management of patient’s diagnostics tests has been developed by the National Information Governance Board. |
| Information provided from other health care professional e.g. your GP, another NHS Trust, Ambulance ServiceClick here for more information |
| When you attend this hospital, either for in a visit to the Emergency Department or as an inpatient stay, we will write to your GP detailing the reason for your visit and provide a summary of the care you received. Therefore it is very important the Trust has your correct GP details. Where the Trust does not have your correct GP details this will result in information about your care being delayed which could affect your care. When you visit your GP and he refers you to the Trust for treatment, he will write to the hospital detailing your current medical conditions and the treatment required. |
Why does the Trust collect information about me?
| Doctors, nurses and other health care professional who treat you will keep a record of the treatment/care they provide. This information is known as a health record, which is kept in both paper and electronic (computer) formats.Click here for more information |
Your health records will be used by doctors, nurses or any other healthcare professionals to plan your treatment to ensure we provide you with the best possible care.
The Trust has a wide range of clinical staff who are involved with your care e.g. Consultants, junior doctors, specialist nurses, healthcare assistants. Some of the clinical staff who provide you care are temporary/Agency staff brought in to cover short time staff absences. All clinical staff involved in your care will have access to your medical information but are all bound by both the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality as well as strict professional standards |
How does the Trust use my information?
| Your information is used by clinical and administrative staff to provide you treatment and care. This could include professionals based in another location.Click here for more information |
| The Trust works in partnership with other NHS organisations and clinical staff employed by other NHS organisations who could be consulted for an expert option relating to your care. |
| Where appropriate, information about your care will be shared with other organisations to enable continuation/support of your care e.g. other NHS Trusts, your GP, social services.Click here for more information |
If you need to be transferred to another hospital for further treatment information about your medical condition and care will be sent to the hospital you are being transferred to.
The Trust accommodates both Hampshire and Surrey Social Services and works with social services staff whilst you are still in hospital to plan your discharge home. Information relating to your discharge arrangements will be recorded by Social Services within their manual and computerised records. |
| Information collected about you will be shared with Trust staff to support your time in hospitals e.g. your religion passed to the Trust Chaplains, dietary requirements passed to catering staff.Click here for more information |
The Trust offers all patients a Chaplaincy service, your Religion is passed to the Trust Chaplains running this service to enable them to visit you whilst in hospital to ensure the pastoral and spiritual needs of patients, their families and staff members are adequately addressed.
Any dietary requirements are passed to the catering staff with your choice of meal to ensure your dietary needs are met. |
| To undertake Clinical Audits which enable the Trust to monitor and improve the quality of care and treatment provided to youClick here for more information. |
The Trust has an annual Clinical Audit programme which requires all clinical staff to participate. Clinical staff across the Trust will review patient medical records to review the care provided and to identify ways in which the care could be improved in the future. Further information on the Trust Clinical Audit programme can be obtained from the Trust’s Clinical Audit Department.
The Trust is currently participating in a number of national Clinical Audits. Some examples of these are:
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| To teach and train new staff.Click here for more information |
The Trust takes in new doctors and nurses to work in the Trust gaining valuable experience and practice in delivering medical care. The Trust will use patient medical records to train these new doctors and nurses. If you do not wish for your medical records to be used in this way, please contact the Trust’s Information Governance Department:
Email:
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Telephone: 01276 604 675. |
| To undertake patient satisfaction surveys. Click here for more information |
| Following your episode of care in the Trust, the Trust may send to your home address a satisfaction survey. These surveys will help the Trust to review and improve the care and treatment it provides to patients. |
| To investigate complaints, legal claims or untoward incidents.Click here for more information |
In order to deal with issues raised or to process your complaint or legal claim, staff within the Trust’s Legal team and Complaints department will access your medical records and may share this information with staff within the Trust as well as external third parties where applicable e.g. Trust Solicitors, NHS Litigation Authority.
The Trust takes patient safety very seriously so when an incident occurs which was not expected the Trust will investigate. When this happens the staff involved in your care, with support from the Trust’s Risk Management department, will access your medical records. |
| Shared with private companies working with the Trust to deliver healthcare services e.g. out of hours clinical support, transport services, patient surveys. Where this is the case, all companies are bound by strict confidentiality agreements.Click here for more information |
In order to provide the best possible care, the Trust uses a number of private companies to support the delivery of your care.
E.g. The Trust has a contract with Global Services to provide you transport to and from the hospital. Therefore, information about you such as your name and address will be shared with this company to enable them to transport you to and from the hospital. The company will also be provided with basic information about your medical condition to ensure they provide the correct type of transport e.g. room for a wheelchair, oxygen supply, etc. |
| To undertake health service management/planning which entails preparing statistics on the Trust’s performance to ensure the Trust can meet patient needs in the future. When using patient information in this way it will be anonymised or coded so individual patients cannot be identified.Click here for more information |
Every NHS Trust is performance managed. Statistical information about patient care is collated by the Trust e.g. the length of time patients are treated in the Emergency Department, how long patients have waited for an outpatient appointment, etc.
The Trust uses statistical information about patients to improve the services it provides e.g. reviewing the length of time a patient has stayed in hospital, the number of hospital infections, etc. Normally this information is anonymised so individual patients cannot be identified.
The NHS Information Centre manages all the information sent to the Department of Health. Further information on how they process your information can be obtained via: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/data-protection/data-protection-charter. |
| Where appropriate, to ask you to participate in a research project. All research projects are approved by a Research Ethics Committee.Click here for more information |
| Undertaking research is an important element of providing healthcare. Clinical staff are actively encouraged to participate in research trials. The Trust’s Research and Development Department manages all research projects undertaken in the Trust. Your participation in a research project will only occur with your explicit consent. |
Who else has access to my information?
| To protect your best interests, your information may be shared in an emergency situation.Click here for more information |
| The Trust has developed extensive emergency contingency plans e.g. in the event of fire, flood, loss of power, etc. If an emergency occurred within the hospital, details of patients currently within the hospital or due to come into hospital might be shared with external organisations that are assisting the Trust to manage the emergency e.g. in the case of severe weather the Trust has a contract with a company to provide 4 wheel drive vehicles to enable patients to get to and from hospital. Patient information would be shared with the company providing this service. |
| The Trust will share information with other NHS organisations to receive payment for your care. Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential and secure.Click here for more information |
| The Trust receives payment for the services it provides to patients. Primary Care Trusts are responsible for paying the Trust for these services. In order to be paid for the services delivered, information on patient’s treatment needs to be passed to these Primary Care Trusts. The information will be coded so individual patients cannot be identified. In some cases, the names of the patients will need to be provided e.g. when requesting funding for high cost drugs, specialised care - IVF treatment. |
| There are occasions where the Trust has a legal duty to pass patient information to external organisations. These include: notification of new birth, notification of infectious diseases e.g. meningitis or where a formal court order has been issued.Click here for more information |
| The Trust will notify the Central Registrar of Births every time a baby is born and there is a death in the hospital. Additionally, where it is identified a patient has an infectious disease; the Trust has a legal obligation to notify the Health Protection Agency. |
| The Trust occasionally uses external companies based outside of England e.g. Scotland, USA to measure and monitor outcomes of clinical procedures to enable the Trust to provide the best possible care.Click here for more information |
E.g. The Radiology department has a contract with Alliance Medical to provide out of hours reporting on x-ray images. This means that if you attend the Trust late at night and have an x-ray, a clinician is available to review the x-ray and provide a report to the consultant providing your care.
The Trust is currently working with the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority to review the outcomes of patient care and treatment. The South Coast Strategic Health Authority have contracted a company based in USA to provide a system into which the hospital enters clinical details of a patient’s treatment. The system will review the information to establish how treatment can be changed in the future to deliver different/improved outcomes.
All companies working with the Trust are all subject to the Trust’s Confidentiality agreements. |
| The Trust shares patient information with other external NHS organisations which operate to oversee and address issues relating to the management of the whole NHS e.g. NHS Counter Fraud Management Services, NHS Prescription Service. The sharing of patient information with these organisations contributes to providing an efficient and effective NHS.Click here for more information |
The NHS Counter Fraud Service is responsible for policy and operational matters relating to the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud in the NHS. In some instances information relating to patients will be shared within the NHS Counter Fraud Service. Further information on the NHS Counter Fraud Service can be found at: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/396.aspx
The NHS Security Management Service collects information on reported security incidents (e.g. thefts of patient/staff property, assaults on NHS staff) from each NHS hospital to collate information to identify patterns in these incidents. Further information on the NHS Security Management Service can be found at: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/413.aspx |
| There are a number of external NHS organisations who have a statutory duty to undertake financial and regulatory audits on NHS Trusts. Assessors from these organisations may require access to patient information. If you wish to object to your records being made available to external assessors, please inform a member of staff or contact the Trust’s Information Governance Team on 01276 604675.Click here for more information |
| The Department of Health mandates all NHS Trusts to undertake clinical audits on care delivered to patients, which can be undertaken by clinical staff employed by the Trust or by external audit companies. This could involve individuals who have not been involved with your direct care accessing your medical records. Further information on national clinical audit can be found on the Department of Health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_112270 |
Protecting your information
| Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep your information secure and confidential at all times.Click here for more information |
All staff employed by the Trust or working with the Trust are bound by strict confidentiality agreements. The Trust also ensures all staff are trained on both the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Common Law of Confidentiality to ensure they know and understand how to keep your information secure and confidential at all times.
The Trust’s Information Technology department has deployed technical security measures to keep your information secure when stored electronically. |
| All staff working in the NHS are bound by strict confidentiality guidelines which means only staff who are providing or supporting your care/treatment are entitled to access your information.Click here for more information |
All staff are bound by the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality which means only staff involved with your care are entitled to access information relating to you. This is detailed within the confidentiality agreements signed by staff working in the Trust and is included within mandated training provided to staff.
All clinical staff are bound by strict professional codes of conduct which incorporate confidentiality clauses. Further information can be found on the British Medical Association (BMA) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NWC) websites. |
| The Trust will not disclose any patient/personal information to a third party e.g. private organisation, solicitor, employer, police officer without obtaining your explicit consent.Click here for more information |
Where you have asked a company to act on your behalf e.g. solicitor, we will not release information about you without your explicit consent.
Where the Trust receives requests relating to your care by a police officer or employer your information will not be released without your explicit consent. |
| The Trust will only collect the minimum information required to provide and support your care.Click here for more information |
| The Data Protection Act 1998 requires the Trust to only collect information which is relevant to your care and is not excessive. |
| The Trust keeps your health record for a defined period of time as determined by Department of Health Guidance.Click here for more information |
| The Trust has a legal obligation to store your medical information. The length of time we will store your information is set out by the Department of Health. The longest we will keep a patient’s record is 30 years after their care has stopped. More information on the retention of records in the NHS can be found on the Department of Health website. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4131747 |
Access to your information
| Under the Data Protection Act 1998, individuals have the right to obtain a copy of their own information held by the Trust. The Trust is entitled to charge individuals an administration fee when providing copies of records.Click here for more information |
| There is an administration cost to the Trust for providing copies of information which is a charge the Trust is legally able to pass on to the individual requesting copies of their information. This charge will either be £25.00 or £50.00 depending on the information requested. |
| To obtain a copy, please write to the relevant department in the Trust e.g. medical records, x-ray or the Information Governance Department.Click here for more information |
Different departments within the Trust will hold records about your care e.g. Emergency Department, X-Ray, Physiotherapy, Medical Records. To process your request as efficiently as possible, please write to the relevant department to obtain copies of your records.
All requests for copies of patient information must be placed in writing. Where an individual is unable to do this, assistance can be provided by the Trust. |
| The Trust has a legal obligation to ensure your information is accurate and up to date. If any of the information held about you is incorrect, please contact a member of staff or contact the Trust's data quality team on 01276 522 403.Click here for more information |
| The Trust sees in excess of 250,000 patients a year, which is a challenge to ensure the information is always accurate and up to date. Trust staff will check with patients that we have the most accurate and up to date information. However, where patients identify information held by the Trust which is inaccurate, they are asked to notify the Trust either in person or by contacting the number above. |
| The Trust may use different communication methods to keep you informed of appointments e.g. text reminders to your mobile phone, or leaving reminder messages on your answerphone. If you do not wish for the Trust to contact you in this way, please inform a member of staff or contact the Trust's Information Governance Team on 01276 604 675.Click here for more information |
| Approximately 5% of patients do not turn up to their appointment, preventing the appointment from being allocated to another patient, lengthening all patients’ waiting times. Therefore, the Trust is using different communication methods e.g. text messages to remind patients of their appointments. |
Further information
If you have any concerns on how your information is used or might be used by the Trust, please talk to the clinician providing your care. If they are unable to answer your query or questions, please contact the Trust's Information Governance Team:
Email:
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Telephone: 01276 604 675.
For support in accessing this patient information or for a translation of this document, an interpreter or a version in large print, Braille or Audit, please contact the Patient Advise and Liaison Office on 01276 526 406
