Suffolk GP Federation and Data Protection
Suffolk GP Federation takes your privacy very seriously. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a Data Controller and our registration number is Z1409359.
Update (17th December 2021): Suffolk GP Federation has selected an offsite storage facility; HomeStore to hold its medical records. Our Data Protection Officer has completed a security review to ensure that the records are held in line with national guidelines.
This includes ensuring that they have;
- CCTV
- Protection from fire and flood
- Trusted staff
- Alarms, locks and fences
HomeStore are unable to access any of the records within their facility and only Suffolk GP Federation staff can access or retrieve the records. If you have any questions or concerns – contact us on the details below.
Follow this link to find out more about how your health information is used for Research and Planning and how to opt out if you wish to.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and your information
The ICO recognises the unprecedented challenges the NHS and other health professionals are facing during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The ICO also recognise that ‘Public bodies may require additional collection and sharing of personal data to protect against serious threats to public health.’
The Government have also taken action in respect of this and on 20th March 2020 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care issued a Notice under Regulation 3(4) of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 requiring organisations such as GP Practices to use your information to help GP Practices and other healthcare organisations to respond to and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to look after your healthcare needs during this difficult time, we may urgently need to share your personal information, including medical records, with clinical and non-clinical staff who belong to organisations that are permitted to use your information and need to use it to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. This could (amongst other measures) consist of either treating you or a member of your family and enable us and other healthcare organisations to monitor the disease, assess risk and manage the spread of the disease.
Please be assured that we will only share information and health data that is necessary to meet yours and public healthcare needs.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has also stated that these measures are temporary and will expire on 30th September 2020 unless a further extension is required. Any further extension will be communicated via an update to this Privacy Notice.
Please also note that the data protection and electronic communication laws do not stop us from sending public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email as these messages are not direct marketing.
It may also be necessary, where the latest technology allows us to do so, to use your information and health data to facilitate digital consultations and diagnoses and we will always do this with your security in mind.
If you are concerned about how your information is being used, please contact our DPO using the contact details provided in this Privacy Notice.
Our Caldicott Guardian is Dr Ruth Bushaway, Medical Director for the Suffolk GP Federation ruth.bushaway@suffolkfed.org.uk
If you have any questions or wish to make a request in relation to your information, please contact:
Governance Team
Suffolk GP Federation
Riverside Clinic
2 Landseer Road
Ipswich
IP3 0AZ
Suffolk GP Federation aims to provide you with the highest quality healthcare. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.
Your doctor and other health professionals caring for you, such as nurses or physiotherapists, keep records about your health and treatment so that they are able to provide you with the best possible care.
These records are called your ‘health care record’ and may be stored in paper form or on computer and electronic systems and may include personal data;
- basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, NHS number, and next of kin as well as sensitive personal data;
- contact we have had with you, such as clinical visits
- notes and reports about your health
- details and records about your treatment and care
- results of x-rays, laboratory tests etc.
Healthcare providers are permitted to collect, store, use and share this information under Data Protection Legislation which has a specific section related to healthcare information.
Feel free to read our IG Policy – IG Information Governance Policy_IG002_V2.0
For more information on how we look after your records, please click on one of the links below: