Because we are also part of a Primary Care Network (PCN) of practices that provide clinics for patients of any of our 8 practices at central hubs and satellite clinics the Privacy Notice for the PCN is also available below as well as our Data Sharing Agreement.

Tolson PCN is a partnership of 8 practices in the area. When we offer services through the PCN, the may be hosted at any one of these premises. We have a centralised computer system to manage appointments booked with PCN services.

This includes;

The Waterloo Practice

The Whitehouse Centre

The University Health Centre

The Almondbury Surgery

The Junction Surgery

Dalton Surgery

Greenhead Family Doctors

and us, Rose Medical Practice

Their website is HERE

What is a Primary Care Network?

You can find out more about how patient information is used at:

https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

With National Data Opt-out you can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care. Our organisation is compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

Accessible resources:

British Sign Language video of the patient hand-out

Audio version of the patient hand-out

Braille version of the patient hand-out which can be ordered from NHS England Health Publications

An easy read booklet of the patient hand-out for patients with learning disabilities as well as a larger print version can be downloaded from the resources for patients NHS Digital web page

Where can I get more information?

Leaflets in other languages and formats are available from https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice/different-languages-and-formats/

For more information, including a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), please go to the website at https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

A patient has to register their choice to opt out only once, and that registration applies to all healthcare settings and organisations, not just general practice. They can do this by using one of the following:

Online service – Patients registering need to know their NHS number or their postcode as registered at their GP practice

Telephone service 0300 303 5678 which is open Monday to Friday between 0900 and 1700

NHS App – for use by patients aged 13 and over (95% of surgeries are now connected to the NHS App). The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google play

 “Print and post” registration form. Photocopies of proof of applicant’s name (e.g. passport, UK driving licence etc.) and address (e.g. utility bill, payslip etc.) need to be sent with the application. It can take up to 14 days to process the form once it arrives at NHS, PO Box 884, Leeds, LS1 9TZ

We will sometimes use a mailing company called DocMail to handle bulk mailings to patients. Typically this is for bulk mailings such as the invitations to attend the flu clinics where it is difficult to accommodate the administrative work involved without affecting our ability to serve patients.

This is permissible under guidance from both the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Department of Health (DoH) subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act

Please find below some more information about DocMail and how we work with them to ensure that we protect our patients’ personal data at all times.

1.1 What is Docmail?

DocMail is provided by CFH Total Document Management Ltd a secure print and mailing company which provides print and mailing services for Local Government, GPs, Dentists, Medical Practices, Schools, Exam Boards and Banks etc. throughout the UK.

The system can be found online at www.docmail.co.uk and requires a secure user name and password for us to log on and upload our letters and address lists to create the printed output for dispatch to Royal Mail. The system allows us to upload a letter template and mailing data for the patients we want to write to via a secure web portal.

1.2 The Data Protection Act (2018) (DPA)

Rose Medical Practice and DocMail are both fully compliant with the Data Protection Act.

The Information Commissioners Office issued guidance in February 2012 for organisations that outsource some of its data processing to a third party. The Data Protection Act allows outsourcing to take place but stipulates certain conditions that must be met for it to be compliant.

An organisation that processes personal data is required to handle personal data in accordance with the data protection principles. A data controller may choose to use another organisation to process personal data on its behalf – a data processor.

The data controller remains responsible for ensuring its processing complies with the DPA, whether it processes in-house or engages a data processor.

Where a data processor is used the data controller must ensure that suitable security arrangements are in place in order to comply with the seventh data protection principle.

Further extracts from the guidance are reproduced here and the entire document is available on the ICO website.

Rose Medical Practice has strictly adhered to this guidance in setting up the partnership with DocMail.

• Rose Medical Practice remains the data controller and as such has the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Act. We are not able to pass on those responsibilities to DocMail whose role is that of a data processor.
• There is a written contract between Rose Medical Practice and CFH – Total Document Management Ltd in addition to the standard terms of business that are published on the DocMail website.
• That contract stipulates that DocMail can only act in accordance with instructions from Rose Medical Practice i.e. they can only print and mail letters in accordance with data provided by us. They are not able to do anything else with that data.
• The contract also creates a legal requirement for DocMail to act in accordance with the seventh principle of the Data Protection Act.
• The Partners of Rose Medical Practice have satisfied themselves that DocMail have provided sufficient guarantees in respect of the technical and organisational security measures governing the processing to be carried out.
• The partners have taken, and will continue to take, reasonable steps to ensure that DocMail are compliant with these security measures.
• No data will pass outside of the European Union

1.3 Data Security and Protection Toolkit

DocMail regularly completes the Data Security and Protection Toolkit, the latest results can be found on the DSP Toolkit Website.

1.4 Other Approvals

DocMail is also approved by the following:

• Government Procurement Service for Hybrid Mail – which allows all government organisations to use DocMail
• 67 Primary Care Trusts for Medical Studies have approved the use of DocMail. 500,000 medical studies packs were sent in 2011 across 200 surgeries
• Caldicott Guardian across a number areas have approved the use of DocMail when asked
• Ethics Committees have approved the use of DocMail by surgeries for use in medical studies

1.5 Accreditation’s & Security Policies

In addition to the credentials listed above, I have been supplied with DocMail’s Corporate Policies and certifications as detailed below..

• ISO 27001:2005 Information Security Management System Certificate
• CFH Site Security Policy
• CFH Information Technology Security Policy
• Information Security Policy

1.6 Process

The data file provided to DocMail will only contain enough data to enable them to fulfil the contract. This means that it will include name and address details and, where appropriate, the date and time of an appointment as well as the name of the clinician you will be seeing or the name of a clinic you will be attending eg Flu Clinic or NHS Health Check. We will of course exercise the same discretion in writing the letters as we would if we were printing and posting them at the surgery.

The letters will be delivered to your address by Royal Mail in the normal way. The letters will carry the DocMail logo and the return address on the reverse side. This address does not identify the letter as having come from a doctor’s surgery.

DocMail delete the personal data 28 days after the mailing.

If you have any questions or require further information about this please ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

DPA Seventh Principle

Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act (2018) lists eight principles of data protection. The seventh principle is of particular importance where an organisation uses a third party to process data.

The seventh data protection principle provides that:

Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.

The Information Commissioner’s Office provides the following guidance to organisations seeking to use a third party to process data on its behalf.

Where a data controller chooses to use a data processor, paragraphs 11 & 12 of Schedule 2, DPA introduces additional obligations on the data controller as follows:

11. Where processing of personal data is carried out by a data processor on behalf of a data controller, the data controller must in order to comply with the seventh principle

a. choose a data processor providing sufficient guarantees in respect of the technical and organisational security measures governing the processing to be carried out, and

b. take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with those measures.

12. Where processing of personal data is carried out by a data processor on behalf of a data controller, the data controller is not to be regarded as complying with the seventh principle unless:

a. the processing is carried out under a contract:

i. which is made or evidenced in writing, and

ii. under which the data processor is to act only on instructions from the data controller, and

b. the contract requires the data processor to comply with obligations equivalent to those imposed on a data controller by the seventh principle.