Privacy notice patients

We recognise the importance of protecting personal and confidential information in all that we do, and take care to meet our legal and other duties, including compliance with the following:

• Data Protection Act 2018
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Access to Health Records Act 1990
• Freedom of Information Act 2000
• Health and Social Care Act 2012, 2015
• Public Records Act 1958
• Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988
• Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regs 2004
• Computer Misuse Act 1990
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• NHS Care Records Guarantee for England
• Social Care Records Guarantee for England
• International information Security Standards
• Information Security Code of Practice
• Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016
• Accessible Information Standards
• General Data Protection Regulations 2018

Your information could be collected in a number of different ways. This might be from a referral made by your GP or another healthcare professional you have seen, or perhaps directly from you in person, over the telephone or on a form you have completed.

There may also be times when information is collected from your relatives or next of kin. For example, if you are taken to one of our departments but you are unconscious or unable communicate.

The information that we collect about you may include details such as:

• name, address, telephone, email, date of birth and next of kin
• any contact we have had with you through appointments, attendances and home visits
• details and records of treatment and care, notes and reports about your health, including any allergies or health conditions
• results of x-rays, scans, blood tests
• other relevant information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals, relatives and carers.

We may also collect other information about you, such as your sexuality, race or ethnic origin, religious or other beliefs, and whether you have a disability or require any additional support with appointments (like an interpreter or advocate).

We collect personal and confidential information about you to support with the delivery of appropriate healthcare and treatment. In order to provide you with high quality care, we must keep records about you, your health and the care that we provide, or plan to provide to you. It is important for us to have a complete picture as this information enables us to provide the right care to meet your individual needs.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, strict principles govern our use of information and our duty to ensure it is kept safe and secure. Your information may be stored within electronic or paper records, or a combination of both. All our records are restricted so that only those individuals who have a need to know the information can get access. This might be through the use of technology or other environmental safeguards.

Everyone working for the NHS is subject to the common law duty of confidentiality. This means that any information that you provide to us in confidence will only be used in connection with the purpose for which it was provided, unless we have specific consent from you or there are other special circumstances covered by law.

Under the NHS confidentiality code of conduct, all of our staff are required to protect information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared.

Every NHS organisation has a senior person that is responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your information and enabling appropriate sharing. This person is known as the senior information risk owner (SIRO) and within our Trust this role sits with Adrian Flynn, Chief Medical Officer. You can find more details on our board members' page.

Our subject access request policy and guidance (coming soon) can support you through the process.  

You can also request further information or an application form, by one of the following means:

Post: the Subject Access Request Team, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Kernow Building, Wilson Way, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3EQ3

Call 01209 204010

Email the subject access request team

We use your information to ensure that:

• the right decisions are made about your care
• your treatment is safe and effective; and
• we can work well with other organisations that may be involved in your care

This is important because having accurate and up-to-date information will assist us in providing you with the best possible care. It also ensures that all information is readily available if you see another health professional or specialist within our trust or another part of the NHS.

There is also the potential for your information to help improve health care and other services across our trust and the wider NHS. Therefore, your information may also be used to help with:

• ensuring that our services can be planned to meet the future needs of patients
• reviewing the care provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible, improving individual diagnosis and care
• evaluating and improving patient safety
• training other healthcare professionals
• conducting clinical research and audits, and understanding more about health risks and causes to develop new treatments
• preparing statistics on NHS performance and monitoring how we spend public money
• supporting the health of the public
• evaluating government and NHS policies

When we are required to do so, we will ensure that we seek your consent before sharing your personal information with other people. We will not pass your personal information to your friends, relatives or carers without your explicit consent. If you are unable to consent for any reason, we will only share information where it is clearly in your best interests to do so or it is required by law.

The Trust sometimes needs to share the personal information we process with other organisations. When we do this we are required to comply with all aspects of the General Data Protection Regulations. Where necessary we also have data sharing agreements in place with our partner organisations which will state the specific ways in which the shared data can be used.

The organisations we share information with can include:

• other public and private healthcare, voluntary, community, social enterprise and welfare organisations
• central and local government organisations
• police forces and security organisations
• public and private service providers, suppliers of medical equipment and support systems
• public and private auditors and audit bodies
• legal representatives
• survey and research organisations
• professional advisers and consultants

The reasons why we would share your information, other than for your care, can include:

• notification of births and deaths
• an emergency (when there is risk of loss of life or limb)
• to control infectious diseases (such as meningitis or tuberculosis)
• child protection
• when required by a formal court order
• for the prevention or detection of a crime   

We work with a number of other NHS organisations, voluntary, community, social enterprise, welfare organisations and independent treatment centres and clinics to provide you with the best possible care. To support this, your information may be securely shared.

Where the sharing of information involves a non-NHS organisation, a specific information sharing agreement is put in place to ensure that only relevant information is shared and this is done securely in a way which complies with the law.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances (such as a likely risk to the health and safety of others) or a valid reason permitted by law, we will not disclose any information to third parties which can be used to identify you without your consent.

Sometimes we are required by law to disclose or report certain information which may include details which identify you. However, this is only done after formal authority by the courts or by a qualified health professional. This may include reporting a serious crime or identification of an infectious disease that may endanger the safety of others. Where this disclosure is necessary, only the minimum amount of information is released.

We are also required to send statutory information to the Department of Health, which is then held centrally and strictly controlled by the NHS Information Authority. This organisation takes advice from an independent board called the Security and Confidentiality Advisory Group, which reports to the government chief medical officer.

There may also be occasions when the trust is reviewed by an independent auditor, which could involve reviewing randomly selected patient information to ensure we are legally compliant.

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is one of many organisations working in the health and care system to improve care for patients and the public.

Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending the emergency department or using community care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.

The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:

• improving the quality and standards of care provided
• research into the development of new treatments
• preventing illness and diseases
• monitoring safety
• planning services

This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymized data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit the NHS your data matters web page. 

On this web page you will:

• see what is meant by confidential patient information
• find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
• find out more about the benefits of sharing data
• understand more about who uses the data
• find out how your data is protected
• be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
• find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set or change your opt-out by phone
• see the situations where the opt-out will not apply

You can also find out more about how patient information is used on the following websites:

• NHS Research Authority, which covers health and care research
• Understanding Patient Data, which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care. Our organisation is currently compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

Some health records are needed to teach student clinicians about rare cases and diseases. Without such materials, new doctors and nurses would not be properly prepared to treat you and others. It is also possible that individuals, such as student nurses, medical students and healthcare cadets, are receiving training in the service that is caring for you. If staff would like a student to be present, they will always ask for your permission and you have the right to refuse without this effecting the care or treatment that you are receiving.

We also undertake clinical research and audits within the trust, and your permission may be required for some of this work. If you agree to be involved, a full explanation will be given and your consent will be obtained before proceeding. Your consent may not be required if the information being used has been anonymised. This means that it cannot be used to identify an individual person.

Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, you have the right to request access to the information that we hold about you.

To support you through the process, we have a subject access request policy and procedure.

You can also request further information or an application form, by one of the following means:

Write to the subject access request team, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust,The Kernow Building, Wilson Way, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3QE

Call 01209 204010

Email the subject access request team

If you have any queries or concerns regarding the information that we hold about you or you have a question regarding this privacy notice, please contact our information governance team:

Write to the information governance department, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Suite 6, Carew House, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin, Cornwall PL31 2QN

Call 01208 834495

Email the information governance department

All our records are destroyed in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice 2021; A guide to the management of health and care records, which sets out the appropriate length of time each type of NHS record is retained. We do not keep your records for longer than necessary.

All records are appropriately reviewed once their retention period has been met, and the Trust will decide whether the record still requires retention or should be confidentially destroyed. All decisions and destructions will be documented.

You have the right to make a complaint if you feel unhappy about how we hold, use or share your information. We would recommend contacting our information governance team initially to talk through any concerns that you have.

It may also be possible to resolve your concerns through a discussion with our patient advice and liaison service (PALS) before (or without the need to start) a more formal process:

Write to: Patient experience team, Room 11, Banham House, Bodmin Hospital PL31 2QT

Call 01208 834620

Email our PALS team

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your complaint, you may then wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Post: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Call: 0303 123 1113

Please note that the Information Commissioner will not normally consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of complaint to us directly. Please visit the Information Commisioner's Office website above for further advice.

Under data protection laws, providers are required to be clear with people about how and why any data they hold on them might be accessed and used. This is often done through privacy notices on websites. We would encourage providers to ensure that notices of this type include reference to CQC and a link to our privacy notice, as we may access care records and other personal data as part of our regulatory activity.

We will occasionally update this privacy and fair collection webpage to reflect company and customer feedback. We therefore encourage you to periodically review this webpage in case of any changes.

Health and social care services in Devon and Cornwall have developed a system to share patient data efficiently and quickly and, ultimately, improve the care you receive.

This shared system is called the Devon and Cornwall care record.

It’s important that anyone treating you has access to your shared record so they have all the information they need to care for you. This applies to your routine appointments and also in urgent situations such as going to the emergency department, calling 111 or going to an out-of-hours appointment.

It’s also quicker for staff to access a shared record than to try to contact other staff by phone or email.

Only authorised health and care staff can access the Devon and Cornwall care record and the information they see is carefully checked so that it relates to their job. Also, systems do not share all your data; just data that services have agreed is necessary to include.