Information Governance

We have a legal and ethical duty to keep your health and social care records confidential Our staff and volunteers across all our services are required to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulation and the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice.

Your health and care records are generally held in electronic format and hold personal information about you such as your name, address, telephone numbers, date of birth, next of kin, GP practice

To ensure that you receive the best possible care, your record will also contain more sensitive information and reports about your health and care including details of any support, appointments, illness, tests and other treatments and/or care you receive

When you attend an appointment, the health and care professionals who see you will add notes to the record based on their professional opinion. Where possible this will be discussed with you at the appointment

Some information about you may be held in paper format until they are added to your record.  These could be your registration form, referrals, reports, results and notes.

HCRG Care Services Limited LLP are part of HCRG Care Group who provide your current service.

HCRG Care Group are part of a wider group of companies, one of which is Operose Health, who have over 65 Primary and Urgent Care services nationally.

From the 1st January 2025, the service is being moved under Primary Care Partners Ltd which is a different legal entity within the same group of companies. Primary Care Partners Ltd are part of Operose Health.

What this means for you:

• Upon the transfer date Operose Health will be the data controller for your GP records and the communications that you receive from the service will be from Operose Health.
• We would like to reassure you that you will be treated by the same staff, in the same location, and the service being provided will remain the same.

If you wish to discuss the details provided, please contact the practice manager who will be happy to answer any questions.

To help with this, we have appointed a Caldicott Guardian, a senior person who is responsible for protecting the confidentiality of patient and other service user information, and enabling appropriate information sharing.  Our Caldicott Guardian is our Chief Nursing Officer, Sarah Wardle

She is supported by the ‘Caldicott Function’ which is comprised of the IG Team and deputy Caldicott Guardians based out in our services. The Caldicott Function has responsibility to champion patient confidentiality and support staff in making decisions about how your information is handled.

• your full name and current address;
• contact email and phone numbers;
• any previous names;
• date of birth;
• location, dates or periods that you were receiving care;
• proof of identity.

Proof of identity should be two official documents which show your date of birth, name and current address on it (separately or when combined) such as a current drivers licence, current passport, utility bill, council tax bill etc. Please do not send original documents, good quality copies are adequate if you are uploading using the online form or sending by post – note we will not return these but will temporarily store then permanently and securely dispose.

If you wish, you can appoint someone you trust to act on your behalf.  If you are applying to see someone else’s records you will need to enclose their signed permission or other legal documentation such as Parental rights or Power of Attorney to confirm their request.

Once we have the information we need from you we log it on our secure portal and will respond to you within one month unless your request is complex and/or numerous and we need more time. If this is the case, we will contact you further and provide you with a timescale. The extension will be no more than 2 months.