We use your information as follows, though this is not an exhaustive list:
- To ensure that your treatment is safe and effective
- To help us make decisions about your care
- We may use and record information which you make public via social media to help us ensure your care plan is appropriate - we will not access any information which has not been made public
- To facilitate effective communication with other organisations who may be involved in your care
- To help improve upon the quality and standards of care we provide
- To ensure we can meet future needs
- For research and audit purposes
- In order to train healthcare professionals and improve quality
- To provide statistics on our overall NHS performance
- To effectively monitor how we utilise public funds
- To help identify any risk areas in the Trust
- To help plan services across the organisation
- To help evaluate local and national NHS and Social Care policies
- To monitor safety
Your records are used to help us give you the best possible care. Records are kept in paper format and electronically. They are used to help staff care for you, by ensuring the following:
- We have the right information on your health to help judge what care you need
- We can make proper arrangements for your care, for instance to get you further appointments or visits
- New or different doctors, or other health staff involved in your care, have an up to date picture - this might include your GP, or a specialist in another part of the NHS
- We can look into what has happened if you are worried about your treatment
By law, everyone working in the SIAS partnership, must keep service users’ personal information confidential in accordance with the common law duty of confidence and the NHS/SIAS Confidentiality Code of Conduct. Recent changes in Data Protection law through the introduction of the new EU directive; General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 now also impose greater obligations on organisations who use and collect personal information.
Your records can only be seen or changed in any way by authorised staff and staff should not pass on information about you against your wishes or without your consent. However, in a health and social care setting, obtaining your consent may not always be possible.
SIAS also has a responsibility to manage your records appropriately in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016 which sets out the steps that organisations must, should and may take to ensure that confidential information is handled appropriately.
- See what is meant by confidential patient information
- Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
- Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
- Understand more about who uses the data
- Find out how your data is protected
- Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
- Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
- See the situations where the opt-out will not apply
Every patient has the right to request access to, or copies of, information we hold about them. This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR). The information held may be stored in various formats such as paper records, electronic records including digital imaging, video, photographs, or by any new or existing medium. Usually everyone can see the information that is kept in their own records. If you would like to know what is in your records, you have a right to see them under the Data Protection Act.
If you would like to access your records, you may do so by submitting a SAR. Please address your SAR to:
Information Requests, BSMHFT, Unit 1, B1 50 Summer Hill Road, Birmingham B1 3RB
or via email to bsmhft.informationrequests@nhs.net
(Please note we cannot guarantee the security of information whilst in transit).
Please note, the Data Protection Act applies only to living persons. However, there are limited rights of access to personal data of deceased persons in accordance with the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
In accordance with Data Protection, you have the right to receive a copy of the information you request free of charge. However, we reserve the right to charge a ‘reasonable fee’ when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive.
We may also charge a reasonable fee to comply with requests for further copies of the same information. However, we will not charge for all subsequent Subject Access Requests. You have a right to get a photocopy of your records.
In some unusual cases, you may be shown only part of your records, or we may even have to refuse your request. This should only happen if we believe that seeing parts of your records could cause you serious harm, cause harm to another person, or if your records would give personal information about someone else.
Where requests are deemed manifestly unfounded or excessive, we also reserve the right to refuse to respond. If SIAS refuses to respond to a request, we will explain why and will inform you of your right to complain to the supervisory authority and at the latest within a period of one month.
The GDPR provides the following rights for individuals:
- The right to be informed
- The right of access
- The right to rectification
- The right to erasure
- The right to restrict processing
- The right to data portability
- The right to object
- Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
If you think that anything in your record is not correct, you have the right to have your personal data rectified. Please make a request to the Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer explaining what you believe to be inaccurate or incomplete. This request can be made verbally or in writing and we will respond to your request within one calendar month. In certain circumstances, we can refuse a request for rectification. These circumstances are if the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, taking into account whether the request is repetitive in nature. If we do refuse your request, we will provide justification around our decision and inform you within one month of receipt of the request.
Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer, Information Governance Team Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Unit 1, B1, 50 Summer Hill Road, Birmingham B1 3RB
Email: bsmfht.informationgovernance@nhs.net
To learn more about how we use your information, please contact the SIAS lead at the Trust’s Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer.
Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer, Information Governance Team Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Unit 1, B1, 50 Summer Hill Road,
Birmingham B1 3RB
Email: bsmfht.informationgovernance@nhs.net
For further general guidance or information, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website or address:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF
website: https://ico.org.uk/
Please note, the Trust’s ICO’s number is: Z7693877
LAST UPDATED MAY 2018
