The following IT systems are in use at the practice:

• Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
• Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
• Online booking of repeat prescriptions
• Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
• GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register
• Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online).

If you are not already registered for online access and would like to be please complete our online form.

If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact reception.

GP Connect

GP Connect allows authorised clinical staff to share and view GP practice clinical information and data between IT systems, quickly and efficiently.

It makes patient information available to all appropriate clinicians when and where they need it, leading to improvements in both care and outcomes. GP Connect can only be used to share patient information for direct care purposes, not for any other reasons such as planning or research. 

From a privacy, confidentiality, and data protection perspective, GP Connect provides a method of secure information transfer and reduces the need to use less secure or less efficient methods of transferring information, such as email or telephone.  

Examples of organisations that may wish to use GP connect to view GP patient records include:

·       GP surgeries that patients are not registered at - for example, if they need to see a doctor when they are away from home.

·       secondary care (hospitals) if they need to attend A&E or are having an operation.

·       GP hubs/primary care networks (PCNs)/integrated care systems (ICSs), partnerships between healthcare providers and local authorities.

·       local 'shared care' record systems.

·       ambulance trusts, so paramedics can view GP patient records in an emergency.

·       healthcare professionals such as community services.

·       acute and emergency care service providers.

·       NHS 111.

·       Pharmacies.

·       Optometrists.

·       Dentistry.

·       Mental health trusts.

·       Hospices.

·       Social care.

·       Care and nursing homes.

All access to your GP patient record is stored within an audit trail at your GP practice and within the organisation that information has been shared with. If patients wish for more information about how their data has been shared using GP Connect, they may need to contact both organisations.

Further information on GP Connect can be found on the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/gp-connect

Type of Information Used

Different types of commissioning data are legally allowed to be used by different organisations within, or contracted to, the NHS. Information used by the ICS Partners include:

• Patient details
• Summary
• Notes
• Allergies & adverse reactions; Clinical terms; Encounters; Immunisations; Medication; Observations; Problems; Referrals
• Access Record: provides access to 'sections' of a patient record in a structured format.

Legal basis

The legal basis for sharing personal data is the delivery of direct care, supported by:

Article 6 (1) (e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

and Article 9 (2) (h) – processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems

Confidentiality

Confidentiality and trust are essential to the relationship between GPs and their patients.

The information a patient provides to their GP is confidential, and they can expect that any information that is shared for their direct care will remain confidential.

GP Connect relies on 'implied consent'.

Explicit consent is not required when information is shared for a direct care purpose. If a patient does not want their information to be shared using GP Connect, they can opt out.

The NDSA and its terms and conditions stipulate that any information received or accessed about a patient for direct care purposes must remain confidential.

In addition to the NDSA, health and social care professionals are also subject to their own professional codes of confidentiality and are aware that any information received via GP Connect is provided in confidence, which must be respected.

Organisations using GP Connect are notified of their duty as 'controllers' to be fair and transparent about their processing of their patients’ information and to ensure that their transparency notices are fully updated with how they may be using GP Connect functionality.

Opting out of GP Connect

If patients do not wish their information to be shared using GP Connect, they can opt out by contacting their GP practice.

National Data Opt-out

The National Data Opt-out is a service that allows patients to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning.

The National Data Opt-out only applies to any disclosure of data for purposes beyond direct care, so having National Data Opt-out will not prevent your GP patient record being shared via GP Connect.