Confidentiality – and the use of your medical record

Doctors and their staff are bound by strict rules to protect and maintain the confidentiality of personal and clinical information about their patients. This means that we are unable to give out any information about a patient without his/her consent except under specific circumstances.

Please respect this code when enquiring about relatives.

More information about the data we hold about you, how this is used, who it may be shared with and your rights in respect of the information are shown here in the following privacy notices:

Privacy Notice – Direct Care

Privacy Notice – Safeguarding

Privacy Notice – Emergencies

Privacy Notice – NHS Health Check v1

IG002 – Data Protection and GDPR Policy

IG014 – Computer and Data Security Policy

Please note that all calls to and from our Reception phone lines are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

Medical Records Digitisation Project

Lancashire and South Cumbria has been chosen by NHS England to be a national pilot for the digitisation of Medical Records.  Scanning these paper based records and making them digital will enable better utilisation of space, creating more clinical space, staff areas, multi team space and video hubs, removing the need for some practices to build extensions. In addition it will also make your record more easily and speedily accessible to clinical staff within your practice.

Your complete GP medical record will be digital and stored in a secure cloud based clinical system (only accessible by your GP practice) with the paper based records being securely destroyed following BS EN 15713:2009 Secure destruction of confidential material.  Your GP will still be able to access your records easily within this system. The scanning and destruction of the paper records will follow strict data protection guidelines adhered to by the NHS.  As with paper based records, digital records are stored for the durations specified in the Records Management Codes of Practice for Health and Social Care. For GP patient records, this states that they may be destroyed 10 years after the patient’s death if they are no longer needed.

If you wish to discuss the scheme, please inform the Practice direct either by letter or telephone 01253 955717 Option 2.