Data protection of health records
Dear Brinnington Health Centre
I would be grateful if you could supply the following information as of today‘s date:
1/ the number of patients registered at your GP’s practice;
2/ the number of patients whose records have had the objection code 9Nu0 (SystmOne XaZ89) entered, following the patient declining their consent to their clinical data being extracted electronically;
3/ the number of patients whose records have been coded with 9Nu4 (SystmOne XaaVL) forbidding any of the patient's data, from any NHS source, leaving the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC);
4/ the number of patient subject access requests (Data Protection Act 1998, section 7) received in 2014;
5/ fees quoted for subject access requests in 2014;
6/ number of patients, to date, who have registered to obtain their medication records online.
Thank you for your precious time.
Yours sincerely
Peter Williams
Dear Mr Williams
Thank you for your request. Please see below the answers to your questions:
1. We currently have 8,739 patients registered with the practice;
2. 142 patients are Read coded with 9Nu0
3. 205 patients are Read coded with 9Nu4
4. We received 18 patient subject access requests in 2014
5. We use the following guidance for charging patients:
You may charge a maximum fee of between £10 and £50 for complying with a SAR relating to health records. The precise
amount of the maximum fee depends on how the health records are held.
• You may charge up to £10 for complying with a SAR relating to health records if they are held only electronically.
• You may charge up to £50 for complying with a SAR relating to health records if those records are held either wholly or partly in
non-electronic form.
These charges may be made if you comply with the SAR by supplying the requester with a permanent copy of the relevant information. You may charge up to the relevant maximum fee regardless of the number of pages the information comprises.
However:
• if the health records in question fall into the second of the above two categories (that is, they are not exclusively electronic records and there is no intention to process them electronically), and
• they have been created or added to during the 40 days preceding the SAR you must offer the requester the opportunity to inspect the manual
records free of charge, rather than being provided with a permanent copy of them.
The amendment may have been either to the electronic or manual part of the record (or both). Assuming there is no intention to process the record electronically, access to the whole manual record will be free of charge. However individuals may tailor their SARs so that they relate only to information to which this right of free inspection applies, and you may also discuss with the individual whether or not they would agree to accept access only to information that is new or has been updated.
6. 2236 patients have registered to obtain their medical records online.
Kind regards
Paul Ansbro
Practice Manager
Brinnington Surgery
Brinnington Health Centre
Brinnington Road
Brinnington
Stockport
SK5 8BS
0161 430 4002
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Good morning Paul
I am most grateful to you for your email of 9 September 2015 – a full, clear, prompt and exemplary response to my Freedom of Information request about data protection of health records. Thank you, and thank you for going into so much helpful detail about charges for subject access.
You may be interested to learn, following responses from practices so far, specific dissent codes entered (as a percentage of the total number of patients registered) vary between 0.3% and 9% depending somewhat on the location of the practice — rates are higher, for example, in University practices.
Between 0.3% and 55% of patients have opted for online services in different practices.
Best regards
Peter
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