At any time you have the right to refuse / withdraw consent, in full or in part, to information sharing. The possible consequences will be fully explained to you to allow you to make an informed decision.
You also have a right to request that your confidential information is not used beyond your own care and treatment and to have your objections considered. These commitments are set out in the NHS Constitution.
If you do not want your personal information to be shared and used for purposes other than your care and treatment, then you should contact the GP practice you are registered with and ask for further information about how to register your objections. This should not affect the care and treatment you receive.
You may want to prevent confidential information about you from being shared or used for any purpose other than providing your care.
There are two choices available to you:
• You can object to information about you leaving a GP practice in an identifiable form for purposes other than your direct care, which means confidential information about you will not be shared with other organisation for any non-direct care purpose. This is referred to as a ‘type 1′ objection; or
• You can object to information about you leaving NHS Digital in identifiable form, which means confidential information about you will not be sent to anyone outside NHS Digital. This is referred to as a ‘type 2′ objection.
Information from other places where you receive care, such as hospitals and community services is collected nationally by NHS Digital. If you do not want information that identifies you to be shared outside your GP practice, please speak to a member of staff at your GP practice to ask how to “opt-out”.
The Practice will add the appropriate code to your records to prevent your confidential information from being used for non-direct care purposes. Please note that these codes can be overridden in special circumstances required by law, such as a civil emergency or a public health emergency.
If you do not want your personal confidential information to be shared outside of NHS Digital, for purposes other than for your direct care you can register a type 2 opt-out with your GP practice. Patients are only able to register the opt-out at their GP practice.
For further information and support relating to type 2 opt-outs please contact NHS Digital contact centre at [email protected] referencing ‘Type 2 opt-outs — Data requests’ in the subject line; alternatively, call NHS Digital on (0300) 303 5678; or visit their website.
In both cases, it is still necessary for NHS Digital to hold information about you in order to ensure data is managed in accordance with your expressed wishes. Please see “Patient Objections Management” on NHS Digital website for further information.
If you have questions about this, please speak to staff at your GP practice, check NHS Digital frequently asked questions, or call their dedicated patient information line on 0300 456 3531.
Information may be withheld if the organisation believes that releasing the information to you could cause serious harm to your physical or mental health. We do not have to tell you that information has been withheld.
Information may also be withheld if another person (i.e. third party) is identified in the record, and they do not want their information disclosed to you. However, if the other person was acting in their professional capacity in caring for you, in normal circumstances they could not prevent you from having access to that information.
We have a duty to ensure your information is accurate and up to date to ensure that we have the correct contact and treatment details for you.
If your information is not accurate and up-to-date, you can ask us to correct the record. If we agree that the information is inaccurate or incomplete, it will be corrected. If we do not agree that the information is inaccurate, we will ensure that a note is made in the record of the point you have drawn to the organisation’s attention.
If you would like to know more about how we use your information, or if (for any reason) you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described above, please contact:
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Data Protection Officer)
Ladybridge Hall Headquarters
Chorley New Road
Bolton
BL1 5DD
Tel: 01204 498400
Email: [email protected]
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: www.ico.org.uk