Data Protection Notice
The following notice applies from 25th May 2018.
1. About Victoria Practice
NHS Lothian is a public organisation created in Scotland under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (the 1978 Act). It is one of the organisations which form part of NHS Scotland (NHSS).
2. About the personal information we use
We use personal information on different groups of individuals including:
• Patients
• Staff
• Contractors
• Suppliers
• Complainants, enquirers
• Survey respondents
• Professional experts and consultants
• Individuals captured by CCTV
The personal information we use includes information that identifies you like your name, address, date of birth and postcode.
We also use more sensitive types of personal information, including information about racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; genetic and biometric data, health; sex life or sexual orientation.
The information we use can relate to personal and family details; education, training and employment details; financial details; lifestyle and social circumstances; goods and services; visual images; details held in the patient record; responses to surveys.
3. Our purposes for using personal information
Under the 1978 Act Victoria Practice has the statutory responsibility to provide or arrange for the provision of a range of healthcare, health improvement and health protection services. We are given these tasks so that we can help to promote the improvement of the physical and mental health of the people of NHS Lothian and assist in operating a comprehensive and integrated national health service in Scotland.
We use personal information to enable us to provide healthcare services for patients (including reminding you of appointments), data matching under the national fraud initiative; research; supporting and managing our employees; maintaining our accounts and records and the use of CCTV systems for crime prevention.
4. Our legal basis for using personal information
Victoria Practice, as data controller, is required to have a legal basis when using personal information. Victoria Practice considers that performance of our tasks and functions are in the public interest. So when using personal information our legal basis is usually that its use is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official authority vested in us. In some situations we may rely on a different legal basis; for example, when we are using personal information to pay a supplier, our legal basis is that its use is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests as a buyer of goods and services. Another example would be for compliance with a legal obligation to which Victoria Practice is subject to, for example under the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008 we are required to notify Health Protection Scotland when someone contracts a specific disease.
When we are using more sensitive types of personal information, including health information, our legal basis is usually that the use is necessary:
• for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services; or
• for reasons of public interest in the area of public health; or
• for reasons of substantial public interest for aims that are proportionate and respect people's rights; or
• for archiving purposes, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to appropriate safeguards; or
• in order to protect the vital interests of an individual; or
• for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or in the case of a court order.
On rare occasions we may rely on your explicit consent as our legal basis for using your personal information. When we do this we will explain what it means, and the rights that are available, to you. You should be aware that we will continue to ask for your consent for other things like taking part in a drug trial, or when you are having an operation.
5. Who provides the personal information
When you do not provide information directly to us, we receive it from other individuals and organisations involved in the delivery of health and care services in Scotland. These include other NHS Boards and primary care contractors such as GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians; other public bodies e.g. Local Authorities and suppliers of goods and services.
6. Sharing personal information with others
Depending on the situation, where necessary we will share appropriate, relevant and proportionate personal information in compliance with the law, with the following:
• Our patients and their chosen representatives or carers
• Staff
• Current, past and potential employers
• Healthcare social and welfare organisations
• Suppliers, service providers, legal representatives
• Auditors and audit bodies
• Educators and examining bodies
• Research organisations
• People making an enquiry or complaint
• Financial organisations
• Professional bodies
• Trade Unions
• Business associates
• Police forces.
• Security organisations.
• Central and local government.
• Voluntary and charitable organisations.
7. Transferring personal information abroad
It is sometimes necessary to transfer personal health information overseas for example if you require urgent medical treatment abroad. When this is needed information may be transferred to countries or territories around the world. Any transfers made will be in full compliance with NHSScotland Information Security Policy.
8. Retention periods of the information we hold
Within Victoria Practice we keep personal information as set out in the Scottish Government Records Management: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE CODE OF PRACTICE (SCOTLAND) 2020. The Code of Practice sets out minimum retention periods for information, including personal information, held in different types of records including personal health records and administrative records. As directed by the Scottish Government in the Records Management Code of Practice, we maintain a retention schedule as part of our Records Management Policy detailing the minimum retention period for the information and procedures for the safe disposal of personal information.
9. How we protect personal information
We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people. Our staff have a legal and contractual duty to keep personal health information secure, and confidential. The following security measures are in place to protect personal information:
• All staff undertake mandatory training in Data Protection and IT Security
• Compliance with NHS Scotland Information Security Policy
• Organisational policy and procedures on the safe handling of personal information
• Access controls and audits of electronic systems
10. Your rights
This section contains a description of your data protection rights within Victoria Practice.
The right to be informed
Vitcoria Practice must explain how we use your personal information. We use a number of ways to communicate how personal information is used, including:
• This Data Protection Notice
• Information leaflets
• Discussions with staff providing your care
The right of access
You have the right to access your own personal information.
This right includes making you aware of what information we hold along with the opportunity to satisfy you that we are using your information fairly and legally.
You have the right to obtain:
• Confirmation that your personal information is being held or used by us
• Access to your personal information
• Additional information about how we use your personal information
Although we must provide this information free of charge, if your request is considered unfounded or excessive, or if you request the same information more than once, we may charge a reasonable fee.
If you would like to access your personal information, you can do this by submitting a written request to the Practice Manager at the following address:
Victoria Practice
12 Junction Place
Edinburgh
EH6 5JA
Telephone: 0131 465 2950
Once we have received your request and you have provided us with enough information for us to locate your personal information, we will respond to your request without delay, within one month (30 days). However If your request is complex we may take longer, by up to two months, to respond. If this is the case we will tell you and explain the reason for the delay.
The right to rectification
If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete you have the right to have this corrected.
If it is agreed that your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete we will aim to amend your records accordingly, normally within one month, or within two months where the request is complex. However, we will contact you as quickly as possible to explain this further if the need to extend our timescales applies to your request. Unless there is a risk to patient safety, we can restrict access to your records to ensure that the inaccurate or incomplete information is not used until amended.
If for any reason we have shared your information with anyone else, perhaps during a referral to another service for example, we will notify them of the changes required so that we can ensure their records are accurate.
If on consideration of your request Victoria Practice does not consider the personal information to be inaccurate then we may add a comment to your record stating your concerns about the information. If this is case we will contact you within one month to explain our reasons for this.
If you are unhappy about how Victoria Practice has responded to your request for rectification we will provide you with information on how you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, or how to take legal action.
The right to object
When Victoria Practice is processing your personal information for the purpose of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority you have the right to object to the processing and also seek that further processing of your personal information is restricted. Provided Victoria Practice can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing your personal information, for instance; patient safety or for evidence to support legal claims, your right will not be upheld.
Other rights
There are other rights under current Data Protection Law however these rights only apply in certain circumstances. For further information on these rights please visit ico.org.uk/for-the-public.
The right to complain
Victoria Practice employ a Data Protection Officer to check that we handle personal information in a way that meets data protection law. If you are unhappy with the way in which we use your personal information please tell our Data Protection Officer using the contact details below.
Data Protection Officer
IT Governance
Woodlands House
74 Canaan Lane
Edinburgh
EH9 2TB
Phone – 0131 465 5444
Email: Lothian.DPO@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Please note email from your private address may not be secure.
You also have the right to complain about how we use your personal information to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Details about this are on their website at www.ico.org.uk
Call Recording
The purpose of call recording is to provide an exact record of the call which can:
- Protect the interests of both parties;
- Help improve Practice performance and best practice
- Help protect Practice staff from abusive or nuisance calls;
- Establish the facts in the event of a complaint either by a patient or a member of staff and so assist in resolving it;
- Establish the facts and assist in the resolution of any medico-legal claims made against the practice or it clinicians;
- A call recording may also be used as evidence in the event that an employee’s telephone conduct is deemed unacceptable. In this situation the recording will be made available to the employee’s manager, to be investigated as per the Practice Disciplinary Policy
The telephone call recording system in operation will record incoming and outgoing telephone calls and recordings may be used to investigate compliance with the Practice’s policies and procedures, to provide further training, to support the investigation of complaints, to ensure the Practice complies with regulatory procedures and to provide evidence for any regulatory investigation.
The Practice will record telephone conversations from its central telephone system. All call recordings are encrypted and stored on a secure server.
DataLoch
This GP practice has agreed to take part in the DataLoch research programme. Both your GP practice and NHS Lothian are the data controller for the DataLoch programme (data is only hosted within NHS Lothian), and we are working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh.
The aims of the DataLoch programme are to support research for the benefit of local residents in the South-East Scotland region. A Data Sharing Agreement is in place that covers the sharing of patient data with DataLoch, and all approved research is anonymous.
In line with data protection legislation, the basis that permits processing of patient data is:
- 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
- 9(2)(j) - processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, or scientific and historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1).
The DataLoch website covers the researcher data, public enquiries, and newsletter subscriptions for which the University of Edinburgh is the Data Controller: https://dataloch.org/privacynotice
Clinical Practice Research Datalink
Information in patient records id important for medical research to develop new treatments and test the safety of medicines. This practice supports medical research by sending some anonymised information in patient records to a government organisation called Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to improve patient and public health.
No one can be identified form the information sent tp CPRD.
If you do not want anonymised information from your patient record to be used in research you can opt out by speaking to the practice.
For further information about how your data is used visit www.cprd.com/public.