How sharing information in your medical records can help the NHS to provide better care
A modern information system has been developed, which will make increased use of information from medical records with the intention of improving health services. The system is being delivered by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and NHS England on behalf of the NHS.
The new system will provide joined-up information about the care received from all of the different parts of the health service, including hospitals and GP practices.
Your date of birth, full postcode, NHS Number and gender rather than your name will be used to link your records in a secure system, managed by the HSCIC. Once this information has been linked a new record will be created. This new record will not contain information that identifies you. The type of information shared, and how it is shared, is controlled by law and strict confidentiality rules.
If you are happy for your information to be used then you do not need to do anything. But if you have concerns you should talk to your GP.
If you do not want information that identifies you from being shared outside your GP practice, talk to a member of staff at your practice. They will make a note of this in your medical record. This will prevent your information being used other than where necessary by law, such as in case of a public health emergency. You will also be able to restrict the use of information held by other places you receive care from. However, this will not affect the care you receive.
For more information about how data is collected and shared, including confidentiality, please visit www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx
Summary Care Record
There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.
Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.
Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.
For Hucknall Road Medical Centre Patients it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.
For further information visit the NHS Care Records Website.
If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery-please refer to the Records sharing form at the bottom of this page.
Hucknall Road Medical Centre Records sharing form (opt in/out)