Who we share your information with
We share information about you with others directly involved in your care; and also share more limited information for indirect care purposes.
We will only share information about you in compliance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Everyone working within the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. Similarly, anyone who receives such information from us on a confidential basis also has a legal duty to keep it confidential.
Direct care purposes
- Other NHS trusts and hospitals that are involved in your care
- NHS Digital and other NHS bodies
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Ambulance services
You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS, for example social care services. We may need to share some information about you with them so we can all work together for your benefit if they have a genuine need for it or we have your permission.
Therefore, we may also share your information, subject to strict agreement about how it will be used, with:
- Social care services
- Education services
- Local authorities
- Voluntary and private sector providers working with the NHS
We will not disclose your information to any other third parties without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as if the health and safety of others is at risk or if the law requires us to pass on the information.
Indirect care purposes
We also use information we hold about you to:
- Review the care we provide to ensure it is of the highest standard and quality
- Ensure our services can meet patient needs in the future
- Investigate patient queries, complaints and legal claims
- Ensure the hospital receives payment for the care you receive
- Prepare statistics regarding NHS performance
- Audit NHS accounts and services
- Undertake health research and development (often with your consent – you may choose whether or not to be involved)
- Help train and educate healthcare professionals
Nationally, there are strict controls on how your information is used for these purposes.
These control whether your information has to be “de-identified” first and with whom we may share identifiable information.
You can find out more about these purposes, which are also known as secondary uses, on the NHS England and NHS Digital websites.