Patients and Residents – privacy notice

The RHN collects information which is paper-based and held on its computer network. We also collect information such as photographs, audio recordings and audio-visual recordings. We take our duty to protect your personal information and confidentiality very seriously and are committed to taking appropriate measures to ensure it is held securely and only accessed by those with a need to know.

RHN may store information abroad. We always do so in line with Data Protection requirements. Some of your information may be stored using Cloud technology which is owned by other organisations that have been carefully vetted and have provided assurances that your information is secure.

Name, Address, Date of Birth, Next of Kin, and contact details. Details of diagnosis, treatment and hospital visits. Allergies and health conditions.

Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well such as your GP, other health or social care professionals, relatives or carers.

We also collect information about your ethnicity, religion, disability, language preference and sexual orientation, in order to monitor that we are treating everybody fairly. It is essential that we have accurate and up-to-date information about you. Please check your personal details are correct whenever you visit us and keep us informed of any changes e.g. address, contact details, and GP practice.

Photographs, audio and video recordings are sometimes made to record conditions and progress.

The primary purpose for collecting information is for the provision of healthcare services.

The people who care for you use your information:

• to assess your health and decide on the most appropriate care for you
• make sure your care is safe and effective
• make sure appropriate information is available if you need to see another doctor or are referred to a specialist or somewhere else in the NHS or social care
• your contact details may also be used to set up video-conferencing services
• your concerns can be investigated if you have a complaint
• The NHS and Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires the RHN to undertake patient surveys, and family and friends surveys to assess and monitor the quality of care we provide. External providers are sometimes contracted to undertake the survey and the RHN will provide the provider with your contact details so that they can contact you to send the survey form
• The RHN is a training organisation. Your data may be shared with supervisors of our staff members and trainees to ensure that the care you receive is as expected

We will normally share information about you with other healthcare and social care professionals directly involved in our care so that you may receive the best quality care. For example, we will send your GP a summary of any test results, diagnoses and treatment given.

We may need to share information about you so that we can all work together for your benefit if you are receiving care from other people:

• Social care services
• NHS services
• Local authorities
• voluntary and private sector organisations working with us and the NHS

The RHN’s partners who contribute to care provision are not always in the UK. In all circumstances, the partners are chosen from reputable companies and are required to sign a contract and confidentiality agreement with the RHN that they will protect and keep any information secure.

There may be other circumstances when we must share your information legally with other agencies when we are not required to seek you consent, e.g.:

• there may be concern that you are putting yourself at risk or serious harm
• there is concern that you are putting another person at risk of serious harm
• there is a concern that you are putting a child at risk of harm
• we have been instructed to do so by a court
• the information is essential for the investigation or prosecution of a serious crime
• you are subject to the Mental Health Act and your nearest relative must receive information even if you object
• if the information is required to be notified for public health or other legal reasons e.g. certain infectious diseases

Your information will also be shared with other Organisations which manage overall Health and Social Care services e.g. NHS Counter Fraud Services, NHS Prescription Services, organisations that have a statutory duty to undertake financial or regulatory audits on Health Care Providers e.g. The National Audit Office, CQC.

The Benefits Agency and Job Centre Plus sometimes ask us to confirm the dates you attended the hospital. We provide this informational only; no clinical information is shared.

We also usually send a copy of letters/emails sent to your GP to you at your home/email address. If you do not wish to receive this correspondence, please inform a member of staff or contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO) at [email protected].

The information we collect about you when you use our services can also be used and provided to other organisations for uses other that your individual health care. This can only be used where allowed by law. Some examples are:

• improve the quality and standards of care
• research into the development of new treatments
• preventing illness and diseases
• monitoring safety
• planning services

We use surveillance cameras (CCTV) around the hospital site in order to:

• Protect staff, patients and residents, visitors and property
• Apprehend and prosecute offenders and provide evidence to take criminal or civil action in the courts
• Provide a deterrent effect and reduce unlawful activity
• Help provide a safer environment for our staff
• Assist in traffic management and car parking schemes
• Monitor operational and safety related incidents
• Assist in the verification of claims

You have a right to make a Subject Access Request of surveillance information recorded of yourself and ask for a copy of it. Requests should be directed to:
Head of Facilities, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.

You will need to provide further details which must contain sufficient information to identify you and assist us in finding the images on our systems.

We reserve the right to withhold information where permissible by the legislation. The RHN only retains CCTV images for 21 days. Where CCTV images have have been downloaded and stored for other reasons e.g. legal reasons, investigations, police requests or subject access, the images will be retained according to the legal requirement.

When your information is used or shared for your direct clinical care and associated administrative purposes, we do so under Article 6(1)e of the UK GDPR – processing is necessary for the performance of a task undertaken in the exercise of official authority. Article 9(2)h of the UK GDPR allows us to process your data for the purpose of medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care, or treatment or the management of health, or health or social care system and services.

We have a duty under Regulation 17(2)(c) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 to keep an accurate, complete and contemporaneous recorded in respect of each service user, including a record of the care and treatment provided to the service user and of decisions taken. We may also use your information if necessary for the purposes specified in the other parts of Regulation 17(2).

If and when we use your information for research in most instances the RHN relies on Article 6(1)3, and the exception in Article 9(2)j of the GDPR for research purposes. On occasions the legal basis may be your explicit consent. If you have formally consented to take part in research, this will satisfy the common law duty of confidentiality. Where it has been impracticable to obtain your consent, your personal information may be shared with approval from the Secretary of State via the Confidentiality Advisory Group under Section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006.

The RHN complies with the NHS “National Data Opt-Out”. This means if you have opted-out, your confidential information will not be disclosed for purposes beyond your direct care across the health and care system in England, unless an exemption has been granted. The form can be downloaded from your-nhs-data-matters or requested by calling the telephone service on 0300 303 5678

You have a right to see or have a copy of the information the RHN holds about you. To obtain a copy, please write to the Health Records Manager, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability or email [email protected].

We will attempt to provide you the requested information in a format which is easy for reuse, however, until all patients’ records are electronic, this may may be not possible. The RHN will provide you with the information in the most convenient format.

If you think any of the information we hold about you is incorrect, please contact a member of staff or the Data Protection Officer at [email protected]. The RHN will correct all factual information e.g. name, address, next of Kin, date of birth, age, marital status, gender, GP details, religion after it has undertaken appropriate checks.

Clinical opinions cannot be corrected however we will insert a note in the record that you wish to highlight that you disagree with the clinical opinion. We will also insert your requested amendments in the record.

Where family members or other representatives request your personal information, we will usually provide the information after you have consented. For patients or residents who are unable to consent we may share their personal information in their best interest.

You have the right to restrict how and with whom we share information in your records. If you object to us sharing your information we will record this explicitly within your records so that all healthcare professionals and staff involved with your care are aware of your decision. If you choose not to allow us to share your information with other health or social care professionals involved with your care, it may make the provision of treatment or care more difficult or unavailable. The RHN keeps your records for a defined period only as per the Department of Health guidance.

As the RHN maintains a National Archive, we may be required to make records available as per the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as amended by the Data Protection Act 2018. Please contact the RHN Archivist if you require further information.