Western Sussex PCT

The NHS asks you for information about yourself so that you can receive proper care and treatment.

This information is kept together with the details of your care, because it may be needed if you are seen again.

The NHS may use some of this information for other reasons, for example:

• To help improve the health of the public generally
• To see that the NHS runs efficiently
• To plan for the future
• To train NHS staff
• To pay bills
• To carry out medical and other health research for the benefit of everyone.

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

Sometimes the law requires the NHS to pass on information, for example, to notify a birth. The NHS Central Register for England & Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with a general practitioner. The Register does not contain clinical information.

You may be receiving care and treatment from other organisations as well as the NHS. In these circumstances it may be necessary to share some information about your so that you can receive the best possible treatment.

We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone’s interests. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you. The sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information is strictly controlled by law.

If your doctor is requested to report information to external agencies such as solicitors or insurance companies he/she will only do so with your explicit consent.

Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.

If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information you can speak to your GP surgery’s practice manager or write to:

The Director of Public Health, West Sussex Health Authority, The Causeway, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing BH12 6BT.

You have a right of access to your health records

THE MAIN REASONS FOR WHICH YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE NEEDED ARE:-

• Giving you health care and treatment

• Looking after the health of the general public. For example:-
- Screening programmes
- Disease registers

• Managing and planning the NHS (where steps will be taken to ensure you cannot be identified). For example
- making sure that our services can meet patients needs in the future
- paying your doctor, nurse, dentist or other staff and the hospital which treats your for the care they provide.
- Auditing accounts
- Preparing statistics on NHS performance and actively investigating complaints or legal claims.

• Helping staff to review the care they provide to make sure it is of the highest standard. For example
- Clinical audit – Clinical Audit is a clinically led initiative which seeks
to improve the quality of patient care through structured peer
review whereby clinicians examine their practices and results
against agreed standards and modify their practice where indicated.

• Training and educating staff (but you can choose whether or not to be involved personally).

• Research approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee. (If anything to do with the research would involve you personally, you will be contacted to see if you are willing to take part. You will not be identified in any published results without your agreement).

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