Privacy Notice

Hetherington Group Practice complies with GDPR. This means we are bound by the law when we share or use your personal data.  

How Hetherington Group Practice uses your information 

We keep medical records confidential and comply with the General Data Protection Regulation. We hold your medical record so that we can provide you with safe care and treatment. We will also use your information so that this practice can check and review the quality of the care we provide. This helps us to improve our services to you. We will share relevant information from your medical record with other health or social care staff or organisations when they provide you with care. For example, your GP will share information when they refer you to a specialist in a hospital. Or your GP will send details about your prescription to your chosen pharmacy. 

Other organisations involved in your care may include: 

• GPs 
• NHS Commissioning Support Units 
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacist
•  Private Sector Providers 
• Voluntary Sector Providers 
•  Ambulance Trusts 
• Integrated Care Board
• Local Authorities 
• Education Services 
• Fire and Rescue Services 
• Police & Judicial Services 
• Voluntary Sector Providers 

Healthcare staff working in A&E and out of hours care will also have access to your information. For example, it is important that staff who are treating you in an emergency know if you have any allergic reactions. This will involve the use of your Summary Care Record. 

For more information see our Summary Care Records policy

You have the right to object to information being shared for your own care. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected

Contacting you

We you register with us or contact us online, you will be asked for your personal contact details. This may be your email address, telephone number(s) and postal address. We will use these details to respond to your queries, provide updates relating to your care, and provide information about the practice 

Using our website

We are committed to protecting your privacy. You can access our website without giving us any information about yourself. But sometimes we do need information to provide services that you request, and this statement of privacy explains data collection and use in those situations.

In general, you can visit our web site without telling us who you are and without revealing any information about yourself. However there may be occasions when you choose to give us personal information, for example, when you choose to contact us or request information from us. We will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you or allows us to contact you.

We collect the personal data that you may volunteer while using our services. We do not collect information about our visitors from other sources, such as public records or bodies, or private organisations. We do not collect or use personal data for any purpose other than that indicated below:

• To send you confirmation of requests that you have made to us
• To send you information when you request it.

We intend to protect the quality and integrity of your personally identifiable information and we have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to do so. We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed to other institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should be aware that we don’t have any control over the other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting these sites.

How we use your medical records

Hetherington Group Practice handles medical records in-line with laws on data protection and confidentiality. We comply with our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Your medical record is used to provide you with safe care and treatment. We share medical records with those who are involved in providing you with care and treatment. For example, your GP will share information when they refer you to a specialist in a hospital. Or your GP will send details about your prescription to your chosen pharmacy.  Other organisations involved in your care may include:

• GPs
• NHS Integrated Care Board
• Lambeth GP Federation Hub
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Judicial Services
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Healthcare staff working in A&E and out of hours care will also have access to your information. 

For example, it is important that staff who are treating you in an emergency know if you have any allergic reactions. This will involve the use of your Summary Care Record. For more information see our Summary Care Records policy or alternatively speak to your GP or reception. 

In some circumstances we will also share medical records for medical research, for example to find out more about why people get ill. We share information when the law requires us to do so, for example, to prevent infectious diseases from spreading or to check the care being provided to you is safe.

The practice will also have data sharing agreements with South East London ICB approved providers to undertake assistance with screening and testing projects. When using an outside provider, for example for patients eligible for ACR testing, all necessary Information Governance documentation is in place with the practice, SEL ICB and the provider. Any collaboration with outside agencies is for the benefit of patient health and data is not shared with any other outside organisation.

In addition to the above, we will also use your information so that this practice can check and review the quality of the care we provide. This helps us to improve our services to you.

• You have the right to object to information being shared for your own care. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected.
• You have the right to be given a copy of your medical record.
• You have the right to object to your medical records being shared with those who provide you with care.
• You have the right to object to your information being used for medical research and to plan health services.
• You have the right to have any mistakes corrected and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please see the practice privacy notice or speak to a member of staff for more information about your rights.

London Care Record

• This practice uses a shared record system called the London Care Record. The London Care Record is a secure view of your health and care information and lets health and care professionals involved in your care see important details about your health when and where they need them. Having a single, secure view of your information helps speed up communication between care professionals across London, improves the safety of care and can save lives.
• London Care Record can only be lawfully looked at by staff who are directly involved in your care. Your information isn’t available to anyone who doesn’t need it to provide treatment, care and support to you. Your details are kept safe and won’t be made public, passed on to a third party who is not directly involved in your care, used for advertising or sold. 

Opting out of the London Care Record

• You have the right to object to your information being available through London Care Record. Although patients have the right to object and request restrictions on sharing their records, there may be instances where this request will not be upheld due to a clinical need as determined by the direct care giver. Please discuss this with your GP/ health and social care worker.
• For further information and advice about data protection or your right to object to sharing your data you can contact the team at Lewisham and Greenwich Trust who manage the London Care Record for South East London or you can call 020 3192 6011 and leave your name and number for someone to contact you.
• If you have already requested to stop sharing on ConnectCare/Local Care Record in South East London, then you will not have to request this again for London Care Record.

Recording Telephone Calls

Our telephony services are provided by Louiscomm who are a NHS approved telephony provider. In line with NHS standards all incoming and outgoing calls are recorded. We do this in the interest of offering good service to our users. Recordings would only be accessed for quality monitoring purposes, where appropriate, training and if it was relevant to any investigation in relation to a complaint. Call recordings are only accessible by the Partners & Management Team. We will keep the call recordings for 12 months after the call was made. The information provided in the telephone call will be protected under the Data Protection Act. You have the rights to both receive a copy of the call recording and to request for it be deleted.

NHS App and other SMS Services

We use the NHS Account Messaging Service provided by NHS England to send you messages relating to your health and care. You need to be an NHS App user to receive these messages.

Further information about the service can be found at the privacy notice for the NHS App managed by NHS England. We may also contact you via SMS using the Accurx messaging service which is commissioned for Practice use by SEL ICB. Accurx Privacy information for patients can be found on their website