Important information about your patient records held at this practice.

Patient choices regarding sharing of health records.

Electronic records are kept in all the places where you receive healthcare. Often NHS care services can usually only share information from these records by letter, email, fax or phone. At times, this can slow down your treatment and mean information is hard to access.
The practice uses a secure computer system that allows the sharing of full electronic records across different NHS care services. This information is NOT about your Summary Care Record (SCR), it is asking your sharing preferences regarding your full detailed electronic record.
We are telling you about this as you have a choice to make. You can choose to share or not to share your full electronic record with other NHS care services where you are treated and whether we can view records held by those other services.
If you choose to make your record shareable, your clinical details will only be viewable by clinical teams who are treating you. Each clinical team that cares for you now or in the future will ask your permission to view your shared record* You can also ask for part of your record to be made private - not shareable. All record accesses are recorded and auditable.
If you chose not to make your record shareable, we will respect your wishes and will do our best to make your care safe and efficient. However, denying the clinical teams caring for your ability to access important clinical details could compromise your care.
You have two choices:
1. Sharing out - This controls whether your full electronic patient record can be shared with other NHS care services where you are treated. Let us know if your records should be Shareable or Not Shareable
2. Sharing In - This controls whether you agree for this practice to view information you've agreed to share at other NHS care services. Let us know if we can view your shared record from elsewhere or if you do not want it to be viewable to us.
Please let us know your choices. You can change your mind at any time by informing us.
* In the event of an emergency
In certain circumstances, such as if you are unconscious or there is a court order, healthcare staff may look at your record without asking you. If they have to do this, a note will be made on your record. If we share information without your permission, we will make sure that we keep to the GDPR 2016 and Data Protection Act 1998, the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice and other national guidelines on Best Practice.