Sussex Neurologist

Sussex Neurologist Practice keeps medical records confidential and complies with the General Data Protection Regulation.

We only hold clinic letters, results and medical and social care correspondence relating to the condition(s) for which you were referred or otherwise consulted Dr Nisbet.

We will only use this information in order to provide healthcare services to you and to check and review the quality of the care we provide to you.

If you provide us with your email address, unless you explicitly ask us not to, we may use this to contact you, but only for the purpose of your healthcare. Similarly, if you provide us with your mobile telephone number or land line number, unless you explicitly ask us not to, we may use this to contact you, including by text message, but only for the purpose of your healthcare.

We will share relevant information from your medical record with other doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare staff or social care staff or organisations, if they are asked to provide, or are already, providing you with care relevant to the condition(s) for which you consulted Dr Nisbet. For example, unless you specifically ask us not to, Dr Nisbet will routinely write to your GP and to any other doctors involved in the care of the condition(s) for which you consulted Dr Nisbet. The information will be sent either via Royal Mail in a sealed envelope marked ‘confidential’, or to and from secure email services (encrypted or via secure end-to-end encrypted GDPR-approved services such as nhs.net).

You have the right to withdraw your consent to any or all of the above sharing of information. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected. If you do wish to exercise either of these rights, please let Dr Nisbet or his secretary know, and do so explicitly, preferably in writing. Nevertheless, it is not mandatory to put either type of request in writing.

Sussex Neurologist does not use a database or practice manager, but all your records are held as filed documents on an encrypted computer in Dr Nisbet’s home office and encrypted computer in Dr Nisbet’s secretary’s home office under lock and key and security alarm. There is a single backup hard drive in Dr Nisbet’s home office, but no on-line / cloud backup either computer.

Safeguarding

Very rarely, we may be required by law to share information so that other people, including healthcare staff, children or others with safeguarding needs, are protected from risk of harm. We do not need your consent or agreement to do this, but information will only be shared with legally recognized authorities (such as the police, social care departments and courts of law), where it is absolutely clear that the information shared is necessary to protect someone from coming to harm or in the case of a court order. Only such information as is necessary for this purpose would be shared and we would always try to obtain your consent first.

We are required by law to provide you with the following information about how we handle your information.

Data Controller: Dr Angus Nisbet
Email: sussex.neurologist@nhs.net
Secretary: 07964 868395
Accounts Manager: 01273 441120

Purpose of the processing

To provide direct health or social care to individual patients. For example, when a patient agrees to a referral for direct care from Sussex Neurologist, relevant information about the patient will be shared with the other healthcare staff to enable them to give appropriate advice, investigations, treatments and/or care.
To check and review the quality of care. (This is called audit and clinical governance).

Lawful basis for processing

These purposes are supported under the following sections of the GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and

Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...”

Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data

Your data will be shared with:

Healthcare professionals at local medical practices & hospitals
Diagnostic facilities and staff such as MRI scanners & pathology departments (blood tests etc)
Organizations and staff involved with your care (such as social care departments of local authorities)

Rights to object

You have the right to withdraw your consent to any or all of the above sharing of information. You also have the right to have any mistakes or errors corrected. If you do wish to exercise either of these rights, please let Dr Nisbet or his secretary know, and do so explicitly, preferably in writing. Nevertheless, it is not mandatory to put either type of request in writing. However, this may affect the care you receive – please speak to Dr Nisbet’s secretary.

You are not able to object when information is legitimately shared for safeguarding reasons. In these rare circumstances, it is a legal and professional requirement to share information for safeguarding reasons. This is to protect people from harm. The information will be shared with any local safeguarding service.

Right to access and correct

You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. Please email or speak to Dr Nisbet’s secretary.

We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.

Retention period

Sussex Neurologist medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Neurological conditions are often long-term conditions and medical records are kept for 20 years or until 10 years after Dr Nisbet retires from clinical practice (whichever is the earliest), whereupon they will be securely and completely deleted from Dr Nisbet’s computer and his secretary’s computers and from the back-up hard drive.

Private Hospitals

The private hospitals where Dr Nisbet consults will also keep basic contact information and dates of birth and GP details that you supply to them. They also keep the any referral letter to Dr Nisbet and a carbon copy of his handwritten notes, but they are not routinely supplied with a copy of Dr Nisbet’s clinical correspondence, unless they specifically ask for a copy. In this case, it is only provided to them where it is clearly necessary to assist in your healthcare or to check on the quality of care provided to you or in some way assist you personally. All private hospitals have their own privacy notices about what information they keep about patients and how they store and process it.

Right to complain

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain follow this link or call the helpline: 0303 123 1113

Data we get from other organisations

We receive information about your health from other organisations who are involved in providing you with health and social care. For example, if you go are seen by another doctor or healthcare professional, they will usually send us a letter to let us know what happens. This means your Neurological medical record is kept up-to date.

How Sussex Neurologist Uses Your Information