Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This allows us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, is used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download the opt-out form below, complete it and return it to the practice
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
Communication from the Health and Social Care Information Centre about opt-outs and your care information choices.
Sharing your records: your personal information
Information about you is used in a number of ways by the NHS and social care services to support your personal care and to improve health and social care services for everyone.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is the national NHS organisation with a legal responsibility to collect data as people make use of NHS and social care services. The data is used both at a local level and nationally to help with planning, managing your care, supporting research into new treatments, identifying trends and issues and so forth, and is used to try to make services better for all.
You can, however, choose not to have information about you shared or used for any purpose beyond providing your own treatment or care.
Your right to opt-out
You can choose not to have anything that could identify you shared beyond your GP practice. You can also choose for the HSCIC not to share information it collects from all health providers any further.
If you have previously told your GP practice that you don’t want the HSCIC to share your personal confidential information for purposes other than your own care and treatment, your opt-out will have been implemented by the HSCIC from April 29 2016. It will remain in place unless you change it.
Simply contact your GP either to register an opt-out or end an opt-out you have already registered and they will update your medical record. Your GP practice will also be able to confirm whether or not you have registered an opt-out in the past.
You can find more information about how the HSCIC handles your information and choices and how it manages your opt-out on the HSCIC website hscic.gov.uk/yourinfo.