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NHS Bedfordshire

What happens to information held about you?

Your rights to access information held about you under the Data Protection Act

Why do you need information about me?

Clinical information is held about you to ensure that health professionals have a complete and continuous record about your past, current and future treatments and care.

How do you hold information about me?

Health records may be in paper or electronic formats. Some records will be retained by the health professional involved in your care, whilst others form the basis of your patient records that remain with the patient.

For GP and dental records, please contact the provider directly. The Primary Care Trust (PCT) does not hold copies of these records.

What are my rights under the Data Protection Act?

  • You have the right to see information we hold about you.
  • You have the right to request the information we hold about you.
  • You have the right to ask for a record to be corrected if you believe information is factually wrong.
  • You have the right as a patient to prevent the use of your information if it is likely to cause you distress.
  • You have the right as a patient to seek compensation if you suffer damage due to the way information is used about you.

What are the PCT’s responsibilities relating to information about me?

We hold paper and electronic records securely to prevent unauthorised access or use.

All PCT staff have a duty of confidentiality to patients and are trained to protect this. A breach of confidentiality or a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 will result in the PCT investigating the incident and taking action where necessary.

Who else can access the information you hold about me?

An individual does not have the right to access the information recorded about someone else, unless they are the authorised representative, have parental responsibility or are acting on behalf of a person who is deceased.

Records may be released to a third party if they are a health professional who has compiled or contributed to the health records, or who has been involved in the care of the patient.

Records may also be released to other agencies, e.g. social services, police or the courts, if these are requested and the relevant service manager gives their permission. This will involve a review of the record to ensure that the information is suitable to be released and there is a valid reason for doing so.

What else can the information about me as a patient be used for?

Your information, as a patient, will be shared with other health professionals involved in your care. Other uses for the information include:

  • Clinical audit: your information may be used for clinical audit following or during your consultation or treatment. Clinical audit reviews the current standards of patient care in the trust against accepted best practice. The audit results are discussed by clinicians to make improvements to patient care. Audit results can be published and presented, but always kept anonymous, so that individual patients cannot be identified.
  • Research: your information could be used for research. Research seeks to investigate new treatments, interventions and management procedures so that patient care outcomes are continually improved. Researchers research into what could be done in the future, whereas clinical auditors audit what has been done. We will ask for your permission and written consent before your participation in research.
  • National and local registers: your information is sometimes passed for entry into national or local registers e.g. the diabetic register, cancer register, transplant databases and other databases held (sometime s on other sites) about various illnesses. This information is used for management purposes, and from a public health perspective to identify where and from what types of illnesses people suffer.
  • National and local returns: your information is used to improve the way the NHS cares for patients. It is passed in an anonymised format, for national and local returns used for waiting times, quality of information and care, and treatment information. If it should ever be required in an identifiable format, we will first ask for your permission.
  • Education: your information could be used to educate doctors, nurses, therapists and other professionals involved in patient care. Individual cases are always unnamed and unidentifiable.

How do I access the information you hold about me?

You must apply in writing to access your health records, providing us with the following information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • NHS number
  • What records you wish to request

The PCT has the right to withhold information where it considers that such information may cause serious harm or distress to the patient or if the information allows a third party to be identified without their consent.

Where can I get further information on this?

If you require further information, please refer to the Access to Health Records policy or contact the Public Engagement and Communications Directorate at Bedfordshire PCT, Gilbert Hitchcock House, 21 Kimbolton Road, Bedford, MK40 2AW.

You can download this information as an information sheet.