Confidentiality

‘The Trust’s vision is to keep your information safe in our hands.’ We promise to use your information fairly and legally, and in-line with local and national policies. You have a right to understand how your information is used and you can request a copy of the information we hold about you at any time.

For further information on confidentiality contact the Information Governance Team:

Information.Governance@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 603961

Feedback

We appreciate and encourage feedback, which helps us to improve our services. If you have any comments, compliments or concerns to make about your care, please contact the Patient, Advice & Liaison Service:

pals@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 814008 or 01946 523818

If you would like to raise a complaint regarding your care, please contact the Complaints Department:

complaints@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 936302

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) is the Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. We will process your data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The purpose of the privacy policy is to inform you as a user of NCIC services about what information we collect, how we use the information, whether the information is disclosed and the ways in which we protect users' privacy.

We want you to feel secure when using our services. We are committed to respecting your privacy. It mainly applies to:

  • All patients, service users of NCIC services
  • All employees, including but not limited to permanent, staff, agency and temporary staff, volunteers, students
  • Visitors to any of our geographical sites and internet website
  • Individuals taking part in any surveys conducted by NCIC
  • Job applicants and former employees
  • Complainants
  • Individuals exercising the rights of subject access or freedom of information.

Information collection and usage

In order to provide a healthcare service, we need to collect and use personal information for a range of purposes. Primarily we collect data for healthcare and administration purposes. For example, a health professional will record details such as patient’s treatment as this is essential information in order to provide a healthcare service. Patient consent will be sought whether this is implied or explicit.

There are some cases where it is necessary and a legal requirement to process personal information even without the consent of a service user or staff member.

NCIC respects people’s choices and will respect an individual’s request to withhold information from someone or an agency, unless there is a legal requirement to disclose the information.

Other purposes for data collection and usage may include:

  • Staff administration, i.e. pay, discipline, work management
  • Service improvement purposes, i.e. patient satisfaction survey
  • Training purposes to ensure staff are adequately trained to carry out their role
  • To conduct an investigation in response to a complaint or police enquiry and to learn from patient safety incidents;
  • Accounts and records, i.e. keeping accounts related to business activity, customers, financial management, responding to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests
  • Research purposes, i.e. health or scientific research (any published data will always be anonymous) / clinical audits
  • Performance monitoring and analysis to help us assess the quality and standards of our healthcare services
  • To help protect the health of the general public, i.e. through the notification of certain infectious diseases.
  • To meet legal obligations, i.e. to inform registrar’s office about deaths.

Our full registration with the Information Commissioners Office is available at Information Commissioners Office website https://ico.org.uk/

Processing information

As noted above, there are a number of reasons why we collect and use data. In all cases, the processing of personal and confidential information will comply with provisions and exemptions of the Data Protection Act 1998.

We hold your information in accordance with retention periods determined by the NHS. We take the security of your data seriously and we ensure appropriate measures are in place to make sure that this information is not accessed inappropriately. Everyone working in the NHS or on behalf of us has a legal and ethical duty to keep your information confidential and secure.

We may also provide information to other organisations, for example another NHS Trust for healthcare purposes. NCIC makes every effort to establish a written form of agreement / contract in such cases to ensure that all personal information is kept secure and is not disclosed to any unauthorised individuals. Any processing of personal information for purposes other than those specified in our registration with the Information Commissioners Office or legally justified will require the consent of the data subjects; a principle which NCIC strictly adheres to.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites that may be of interest. However, once you click on these links and exit our site, please be aware that we do not have any control over the content or management of that website. As a result, we cannot be held responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites as these are not subject to this privacy notice. We recommend that you review the website’s privacy policy as a precautionary measure.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive while they are visiting a particular website. It contains simple information about the user's identity but no personal information. The benefit of using cookies is that it allows us to monitor website traffic and record user's preferences. NCIC acknowledges and complies with the recent changes to the rules and regulations in regards to using cookies and similar technologies for storing information. NCIC will ensure that the use of cookies is managed in accordance with national and legal guidelines, such as those that require the consent of website visitors for their use.

For more information on cookies, and how our website uses them, please contact the Information Governance department.

Personal control over your information

We appreciate that not everyone wants their information to be used in the ways that have been identified. You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways;

  • Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website or manually, look for the option to indicate that you do not want the information to be shared for the specified purposes;
  • If you have previously agreed for us to use your personal information for a particular purpose, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us. Please note that this only applies in cases that do not conflict with our legal obligations. 

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties without your consent.

Every patient has the right to correct or amend inaccurate information in their file. However, due to medical and legal requirements, NCIC are not permitted to remove any data from a record even when this is incorrect. If you believe that information the Trust is holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, or you would like to receive a copy of your information, then please write to us using the contact details below.

Information Governance Team
Maglona House
Unit 68, Kingstown Broadway
Carlisle
CA3 0HA

Email: information.governance@ncic.nhs.uk

NCIC Website: http://www.ncic.nhs.uk