Patient data flows into NHS Digital from First Community Health & Care
Dear NHS Digital,
1) Please could you advise whether you receive any patient data from First Community Health and Care, for use for purposes other than direct care?
2) If so, please could you elaborate on what information you receive from them?
3) How can a patient prevent you from receiving patient identifiable data from First Community Health and Care, if that organisation refuses to abide by requests to prevent such data from flowing?
Yours faithfully,
Mr Rawlins
Ref: NIC-208320-K3T7W
Dear Rawlins,
I am writing to acknowledge that your request for information was received
by NHS Digital on 20/06/2018 and is currently being considered.
If NHS Digital is able to provide you with the information you have
requested, then under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act you are
entitled to receive it promptly and in any event no later than the 20th
working day following the date of receipt. However, we may need to contact
you to clarify your request. If this is required we aim to do this
promptly but no later than 7 days after receiving your initial request for
information.
May I take this opportunity to explain the FOI Act in more detail? The Act
provides a 'General right of access to information held by public
authorities'. However, it also defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent the release of some or all of the information you have requested.
Therefore, NHS Digital will assess your information request in light of
any relevant exemptions.
If exemptions do apply, then NHS Digital may decide not to release all, or
part, of the information you have requested. I shall inform you if this is
the case, and advise you of your rights of appeal.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken as to whether to
release the information to you.
The response to your request will be sent to you by email, however if you
require your response in any other format, please contact us to discuss a
suitable format.
NHS Digital will not normally charge a fee to provide you with the
information you have requested, unless the cost of dealing with your
request is more than £450 as outlined in Section 12 of the FOI Act and
Section 3 of the The FOI and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004. If it appears likely that your request will cost more,
then NHS Digital is able to refuse to supply the information. As per our
obligations under Section 16 of the FOI Act, every effort will be made to
provide you with details of how you may be able to reframe your request in
order for us to complete the required work within the (£450 / 18 person
hours) cost limit.
If you have any queries or should you wish to make a complaint about the
manner in which your request is being processed then please do not
hesitate to contact us at [1][NHS Digital request email] in the first
instance. Any complaints will be investigated in accordance with NHS
Digital's complaints procedure.
Further information about your rights under the Freedom of Information
Act, is available from the Information Commissioner's Office, Wilmslow,
Cheshire and on the NHS Digital website.
Kind Regards,
Contact Centre Team
NHS Digital
[2]www.digital.nhs.uk
0300 303 5678
[3][NHS Digital request email]
1 Trevelyan Square | Boar Lane | Leeds | LS1 6AE
You can find out more about our service, including our response times and
customer charter on the NHS Digital website:
[4]https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital...
[5]Privacy and cookies
NHS Digital Customer Service Contact Centre in Leeds, has been awarded
Customer Service Excellence Standard Certification, In accordance with the
requirements of the Cabinet Offices Customer Service Excellence Standard
Ref: NIC-208320-K3T7W
Dear Mr Rawlins,
Many thanks for your recent request to NHS Digital.
We have now received a reply to this from our colleagues in the
Information Governance team.
Please see the attached file.
Kind Regards,
Contact Centre Team
NHS Digital
[1]www.digital.nhs.uk
0300 303 5678
[2][NHS Digital request email]
1 Trevelyan Square | Boar Lane | Leeds | LS1 6AE
HSCIC now operate under the new trading name of NHS Digital – clarifying
our role as the national information and technology partner for the health
and care system.
[3]Privacy and cookies
NHS Digital Customer Service Contact Centre in Leeds, has been awarded
Customer Service Excellence Standard Certification, In accordance with the
requirements of the Cabinet Offices Customer Service Excellence Standard
Dear NHS Digital Enquiries (NHS DIGITAL),
Many thanks for your response - it is very helpful. If I may, I would like to add a couple of queries in reaction to your response:-
1) You state that you have not received any data from First Community for the last three years or so - I was under the impression that organisations providing services under NHS contracts are contractually required to submit such data (subject to the lack of objection from data subjects), in which case why are First Community not submitting such data, and is there any likelyhood of them submitting such data again in the future?
2) I am aware of the National Data Opt Out alluded to in your response, but organisations are not required to comply with it until 2020, and despite making enquiries, cannot discover whether First Community are complying with it or not. Furthermore, the National Data Opt Out applies to all organisations providing NHS services, but if I wished to require a specific organisation to comply with a request not to process information for secondary purposes (as opposes to all organisations), how would I go about such a request, when First Community refuse to discuss such matters?
Yours sincerely,
Mr Rawlins
Ref: NIC-214156-H9R0J
Dear Mr Rawlins,
I am writing to acknowledge that your request for information was received
by NHS Digital on 11/07/2018 and is currently being considered.
If NHS Digital is able to provide you with the information you have
requested, then under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act you are
entitled to receive it promptly and in any event no later than the 20th
working day following the date of receipt. However, we may need to contact
you to clarify your request. If this is required we aim to do this
promptly but no later than 7 days after receiving your initial request for
information.
May I take this opportunity to explain the FOI Act in more detail? The Act
provides a 'General right of access to information held by public
authorities'. However, it also defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent the release of some or all of the information you have requested.
Therefore, NHS Digital will assess your information request in light of
any relevant exemptions.
If exemptions do apply, then NHS Digital may decide not to release all, or
part, of the information you have requested. I shall inform you if this is
the case, and advise you of your rights of appeal.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken as to whether to
release the information to you.
The response to your request will be sent to you by email, however if you
require your response in any other format, please contact us to discuss a
suitable format.
NHS Digital will not normally charge a fee to provide you with the
information you have requested, unless the cost of dealing with your
request is more than £450 as outlined in Section 12 of the FOI Act and
Section 3 of the The FOI and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004. If it appears likely that your request will cost more,
then NHS Digital is able to refuse to supply the information. As per our
obligations under Section 16 of the FOI Act, every effort will be made to
provide you with details of how you may be able to reframe your request in
order for us to complete the required work within the (£450 / 18 person
hours) cost limit.
If you have any queries or should you wish to make a complaint about the
manner in which your request is being processed then please do not
hesitate to contact us at [1][NHS Digital request email] in the first
instance. Any complaints will be investigated in accordance with NHS
Digital's complaints procedure.
Further information about your rights under the Freedom of Information
Act, is available from the Information Commissioner's Office, Wilmslow,
Cheshire and on the NHS Digital website.
Kind Regards,
Contact Centre Team
NHS Digital
[2]www.digital.nhs.uk
0300 303 5678
[3][NHS Digital request email]
1 Trevelyan Square | Boar Lane | Leeds | LS1 6AE
You can find out more about our service, including our response times and
customer charter on the NHS Digital website:
[4]https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital...
[5]Privacy and cookies
NHS Digital Customer Service Contact Centre in Leeds, has been awarded
Customer Service Excellence Standard Certification, In accordance with the
requirements of the Cabinet Offices Customer Service Excellence Standard
Ref: NIC-214156-H9R0J
Dear Rawlins,
Many thanks for your recent request to NHS Digital.
We have now received a reply to this from our colleagues in the
Information Governance team.
Please see the attached file(s).
Kind Regards,
Contact Centre Team
NHS Digital
[1]www.digital.nhs.uk
0300 303 5678
[2][NHS Digital request email]
1 Trevelyan Square | Boar Lane | Leeds | LS1 6AE
HSCIC now operate under the new trading name of NHS Digital – clarifying
our role as the national information and technology partner for the health
and care system.
[3]Privacy and cookies
NHS Digital Customer Service Contact Centre in Leeds, has been awarded
Customer Service Excellence Standard Certification, In accordance with the
requirements of the Cabinet Offices Customer Service Excellence Standard
References
Visible links
1. http://www.digital.nhs.uk/
2. mailto:[NHS Digital request email]
3. https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital...
Dear NHS Digital Enquiries (NHS DIGITAL),
Many thanks for your response. I will try and continue to extract the information from First Community, but nobody I have communicated within the organisation so far seems to know what happens to patient data. Doesn't really give me much faith in whether they do or will uphold the National Opt-Out, or whether they comply with the GDPR by not telling patients how their data is (or isn't) used.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Rawlins
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