Keeping your information safe

We are committed to ensuring the security and confidentiality of your information.

There are a number of ways we do this:

• Staff receive annual training about protecting and using personal data
• Policies are in place for staff to follow and are regularly reviewed
• We check that only the minimum amount of data is shared or accessed
• We use ‘smartcards’ to access systems, this helps to ensure that the right people are accessing data – people with a ‘need to know’
• We use encrypted emails and storage which would make it difficult for someone to ‘intercept’ your information
• We report and manage incidents to make sure we learn from them and improve
• We put in place contracts that require providers and suppliers to protect your data as well
• We do not send your data outside of the EEA
• We have a Caldicott Guardian –  A senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people’s health and care information and making sure it is used properly. Our Caldicott Guardian is Dr Ruth Bushaway, Medical Director for the Suffolk GP Federation. Ruth.Bushaway@suffolkfed.org.uk

How Long Do We Keep Your Information?

In line with the Department of Health Code, we will retain/store your health record for your lifetime. When a patient dies, we will review the record and generally it will be destroyed 10 years later, unless there is a reason to keep it for longer.

If you move away or register with another practice, we will send your records to the new practice.