From 27th May 2019, the practice has changed the way we share information with certain NHS Organisations.
Currently, the Practice only shares information with other health providers, such as District Nurses with your consent; this can be prob-lematic as the District Nurses provide a 24-hour service every day of the year, and the Practice is not always open to provide record ac-cess should they require this.
The Practices in the Coastal Locality (Teignmouth and Dawlish) are planning to change the way we share data so that records will auto-matically be “shared out” with certain Organisations who will be on an approved list. These will be the other 3 practices within the Locality Glendevon Medical Centre, The Barton Surgery (Dawlish) and Teignmouth Medical Group, as well as Cricketfield Surgery in Newton Abbot who provide the Improved Access service to our patients, and the Torbay and South Devon Community Organisations who provide District Nurse, Community Phlebotomy, Intermediate Care, Community Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy to patients who are registered with Practices in Teignmouth and Dawlish.
These other organisations will only be able to view your medical information for the purpose of direct care, for example, if they were visiting you at home following a hospital admission. Medical record access is audited, and staff working for the organisations listed above are bound by the strict confidentiality and data protection laws that apply to all NHS organisations.
The lawful basis for this method of sharing is defined under the General Data Protection Regulations are Article 6.1 (e) and 9.2 (h):
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.
Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the em-ployee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…”
This new way of working does not mean that your medical record will be open for anyone working in the above organisations to view. In order to view your record, you would have to be registered to receive care or a service from one of the organisations listed above; and the staff accessing your medical records would only be doing so for the purpose of providing direct care. If you are not registered with the organisation to receive care/services then your record will not be shared.
Record sharing in this way is an extremely useful tool, as it enables NHS organisations to view your GP record, and add to it. This means that your GP will be able to view the notes from the Community Nursing Team, Intermediate Care / Therapies Team, as well as any notes from the Improved Access service, all in one place. It also means that your GP record will be available for to these teams should you be referred / require care from them in the future. In addition to this, communication between these NHS organisations is streamlined as there is a common record available to the Health Professionals involved in your care. This sharing mechanism also means that you should only have to tell your story once, instead of having to repeat your medical history several times over when a new team is involved in your care.
Please note that if you have previously dissented (opted-out) to sharing your records, this decision will be upheld, and your record will only be accessed by your GP Practice. Should you wish to opt-out of the Enhanced Data Sharing Model (EDSM), please speak to a Re-ceptionist who will be able to update your personal preferences. Please note that by opting out of the EDSM, other health professionals may not be able to see important medical information, which may impact on the care you receive.
All other organisations using the computer system SystmOne, who are not listed above, will need to obtain a verification code from the patient in order to access their medical record subject to your consent. This method is very similar to that used as part of the Internet Banking process. The code will be sent to the patient via text, email, or obtained by logging in to their personal SystmOnline account.
