All of our practice staff are aware of the importance of confidentiality. We train staff on all aspects of confidentiality with respect to both manual and electronic health records. We keep all your health information confidential and secure in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and have a legal responsibility to keep confidential all of the information held about you.
We respect your right to privacy. You have a right to access your medical records in accordance with the please ask at reception if you would like further details. An appointment will be required. In some circumstances, a fee may be payable; for more information on this, please visit our non-NHS work page.
Common Law of Duty of Confidentiality is not written out in one document like the GDPR or an Act of Parliament. Common Law is also referred to as ‘judge-made’ or case law. In practice, this means that all patient/client information, whether held on paper, computer, visually or audio recorded, or held in the memory of the professional, must not normally be disclosed without the consent of the patient/client.
However, where the disclosure/sharing of the patient/client information is for the purpose of direct care, consent to such disclosure/sharing may be implied where it is informed, given there is a legitimate relationship between the patient/client and the health professional.
Personal data
This means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
Special categories of personal data
Data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, bio-metric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.
