We ask you for information so that you can receive proper care and treatment.

We keep this information, together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again.

Sometimes the law requires us to pass on information; for example, to notify a birth.

The NHS Central Register for England and Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with a general practitioner. The Register does not contain clinical information. You have a right to apply for access of your health records.

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential

You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit, we may need to share some information about you.

We only use or pass on information about you if there is a clear and genuine need for it. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you.

Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.

If you agree, your relatives, friends and carers will be kept up to date with the progress of your treatment.

The main reasons for which your information may be needed are:

• To give you health care and treatment
• Looking after the health of the general public
• Managing and planning the NHS. For example:
• Making sure that our services can meet patient needs in the future.
• Paying your doctor, nurse, dentist or other staff, and the hospital which treats you for the care they provide.
• Auditing accounts.
• Preparing statistics on NHS performance and activity (where steps will be taken to make sure you cannot be identified).
• Investigating complaints or legal claims.
• Helping staff to review the care they provide to make sure it is of the highest standard.
• Training and educating staff (though you can choose whether or not to be involved personally).
• Research approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee. (If anything to do with the research would involve you personally, you will be contacted to see if you are willing.)
• Your information will also, subject to strict conditions describing how it will be used, be shared with third party service providers contracted to support the practice plan for delivering and/or improving the quality of the healthcare you receive.

If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information, you can speak to the person in charge of your care or to the practice manager.