Improving your care by sharing information with others looking after you
We are part of the Leeds Care Record project. From October 16th 2013 we were one of the three pilot practices for this project. Leeds Care Record is now in live use. We will share key information from your record with other people providing direct care for you, for example Leeds accident & emergency department, outpatient clinics, district nurses and social care. We already share information of this sort, but mainly on paper or electronicially at the time of making a referral. By the time you are next seen in clinic this information could be out of date, for example if you’ve changed your medication. The Leeds Care Record will mean that those people caring for you will have up to date information. Protecting your confidential information is important to us and we are working with the others involved in this project to ensure that. Please read on for more information:
What is the Leeds Care Record?
At the moment, every health and social care organisation that you use has a different set of patient records for you. These records may duplicate information or one record might hold information about your treatment, care and support that another one doesn’t.
Address and telephone number – so we have one set of contact details for you.
Problem diagnosis list – to make sure your health or social care professional has a complete record of your care.
Medications – so everyone treating you can see what medicines you’ve been prescribed.
Allergies – to make sure you aren’t prescribed or given any medicines you could have an adverse reaction to.
Test results – to speed up your treatment and care.
Referrals, clinic letters and discharge information – to make sure the people caring for you have all the information they need about other treatment you’re having elsewhere.
Why do you need to share my information?
GPs and other health and social care professionals will be able to provide much better support if all of the information they need to know about you is available in one place. When information is shared, it means you won’t have to keep repeating the same information to different professionals. It also means your care will be safer because health and social care staff will be able to see information about the medicines you have been prescribed and any allergies you have.
There are benefits for the health and social care system too. By having instant access to the information they need, the people caring for you won’t have to spend time phoning around different organisations. They’ll be able to do their job safely and more quickly, making services more streamlined, cost effective and efficient.
Can anybody see my records?
No. Your medical records will still be confidential. They will only be looked at by people who are directly involved in your care. We won’t share your information with anyone who doesn’t need it to provide treatment, care and support to you. Your details will be kept safe and won’t be made public, passed on to a third party who is not directly involved in your care, or used for advertising.
How do I know my records are kept secure?
By law, everyone working in, or on behalf of, the NHS and adult social care must respect your privacy and keep all information about you safe.
The Leeds Care Record will be held on a secure, encrypted system at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The system keeps a record of everyone who has accessed a patient record, the time and date when they accessed it and the information they were viewing.
The laws on data protection are clear and we take them very seriously. We regularly check to make sure that only people who need to see your patient record are viewing it.
Can I opt out of my records being shared?
Yes, you can choose not to have a Leeds Care Record. It is your choice but sharing your medical and social care information through a Leeds Care Record will make it easier to provide the best quality care and support for you. If you have any doubts about your records being shared you can talk to your GP in the first instance. If you wish, we can ensure that your GP records are not shared outside the practice. You can also contact the information governance team at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Their telephone number is 0113 20 64102 or you can write to:
Access to Health Records
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
St James University Hospital
Lincoln Wing/Chancellor Wing Link Corridor
Beckett Street
Leeds
LS9 7TF
Can I access my Leeds Care Record?
Patients have the right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to request access to any information that an organisation holds about them. This includes copies of paper, electronic and hybrid patient Health Records. A copy of this can be requested via the Trust website and information about this can be found on the Leeds Teaching Hospitals website – www.leedsth.nhs.uk – under the Freedom of Information heading or by writing to the address above.
Is this the same as the Summary Care Record (SCR) or care.data?
No.
The Summary Care Record consists only of medication and allergies and can only be accessed at time of emergency or unscheduled care.
The care.data extract will be used for secondary uses such as national and local planning.
The patient opt-outs for these three services are completely separate. You can opt in or out of theses services individually.
If you have already opted out of SCR, you will not be automatically opted out of care.data or the Leeds Care Record.
Further information
You can download a patient infromation leaflet about the LCR.
You can view the Leeds Care Record website.
