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 would like to 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 will allow 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, will be 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.
How Information about you helps us to provide better care
Opt Out Form -Download,complete and return to the practice
Health Data Collection and Health Observatory
The staff at this practice record information about you and your health so that you can receive the right care and treatment. We need to record this information, together with the details of the care you receive, so that it is available each time we see you.
The information recorded about you may also be used for reasons other than your personal care, for example, to help to protect the health of the general public, to plan for the future, to train staff and to carry out medical and other health research or studies.
Thus, we are involved in a health observatory based on anonymised patient information. The reasonable security measures and anonymisation processes are in place to comply with the relevant data protection regulations. If you would like to opt out of this data collection scheme, please let your doctor know and your records will not be collected for use for this Observatory. This will not affect your care in any way.
If anything to do with the Observatory or derivate research would require that you provide additional information about yourself, you will be contacted by your GP to see if you are willing to take part; you will not be identified in any published results.
You have a right of access to your health records. If at any time you would like to know more, or have any concerns about how we use your information, please ask reception for more details.
A list of published research using the THIN database is available upon request. Please contact Michelle Page on telephone number 020 7501 7540 or email [email protected] for a copy.