Patient Records

confidentialAll individuals with access to your data have a professional and/or contractual duty of confidentiality.

Confidential patient data will be shared within the practice health care team and with other health care professionals to whom you are referred for care. Your data may also be used by those clinical teams providing your care for the essential purpose of clinical audit. Confidential patient data may also be required for the broader purposes of public health and audit, research, the provision of health care services, teaching and training. Data disclosed will be kept to the minimum required to serve the purpose and if possible will be anonymised before disclosure.

Confidential and identifiable patient information will not otherwise be disclosed without explicit consent unless:

  1. it is a matter of life and death or serious harm to you or to another individual
  2. it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so 
  3. there is a legal obligation to do so.

In all of these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve the purpose may be revealed to someone with a legal entitlement to access the data for that purpose. If you are concerned about any of the ways in which your confidential data are managed, further information is available from the practice manager. You are entitled to register an objection and this will be respected if possible.