Access to Medical Record
Forgotten history
There may be something you have forgotten about in your record that you might find upsetting.
Abnormal results or bad news
As you will have access to test results or letters, you may see something that you find upsetting to you. This may occur before you have spoken to your doctor or while the surgery is closed and you cannot contact the,
Choosing to share your information with someone
Its up to you whether you share your information with others or not – perhaps family members or carers. Its your choice, but also your responsibility to keep the information safe and secure.
Coercion
If you think you may be pressured into revealing details from your patient record to someone else against you will, it is best that you do not register for access at this time.
Misunderstood Information
Your medical record is designed to be used by clinical professions to ensure that you receive the best possible care. Some of the information within your medical record may be highly technical, written by specialists and not easily understood. If you have a query, please send this in writing to the practice. The practice will respond within 4 working weeks.
More information
For more information about keeping your healthcare records safe and secure, you will find a helpful leaflet produced by the NHS in conjunction with the British Computer Society:
Proxy Access
If you are using this service to access another person’s account as a proxy (eg as a carer or parent), you have discussed appropriately what you are accessing and for what purpose. This service will be reviewed at regular intervals by the GP practice and may be rescinded at any time.
Children’s Privacy Notice
- Please read PDF Children’s Privacy Notice
Disability Access
The Accessible Information Standard aims to ensure patients with a disability, impairment or sensory loss have access to information in an appropriate form and are given the communication support they might need.
All organisations that provide NHS or adult social care must follow the Accessible Information Standard by law. These standard include making sure that people get information in different formats if they need it, such as: large print, braille, easy read, email etc.
Expansion of the OpenSAFELY secure COVID-19 research platform
NHS England has been directed by the government to establish and operate the OpenSAFELY COVID-19 Service and the OpenSAFELY Data Analytics Service. These services provide a secure environment that supports research, clinical audit, service evaluation and health surveillance for COVID-19 and other purposes.
Each GP practice remains the controller of its own GP patient data but is required to let approved users run queries on pseudonymised patient data. This means identifiers are removed and replaced with a pseudonym.
Only approved users are allowed to run these queries, and they will not be able to access information that directly or indirectly identifies individuals.
Patients who do not wish for their data to be used as part of this process can register a type 1 opt out with their GP.
Here you can find additional information about OpenSAFELY
GP Earnings – Updated 1/5/2024
All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g.
average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each
practice.
The average pay for GPs who worked for six months or more in
Houghton Close Surgery in the last financial year was £75,712 before
Tax and National Insurance. This is for 8 part-time GP’s and 1 locum
GP.
GP Extended Access Service
What is the GP Extended Access Service?
The Extended Access Service is a service offering our patients routine appointments in the evenings, weekends and bank holidays with GPs, Minor Illness Nurses, Nurses, Health Care Assistants, Phlebotomists and other Healthcare Professionals.
It is an extension to the service we currently offer and is staffed by Healthcare Professionals working in Bedfordshire.
The service offers additional capacity and will make it easier for you to get an appointment at a time that suits you, including in the evenings and at weekends.
When are appointments available?
Appointments are available to patients from 6.30pm – 8pm weekdays and from 09.00-17.00 on Saturdays and some bank holidays. Appointments can be booked in the same way as all our other appointments either by submitting a triage request form, phoning the surgery or coming into the surgery in person.
Appointments will be bookable up to four weeks in advance and some appointments will also be available to book on the day.
‘Please note this is not a walk in service’
Extended access appointments are in addition to normal opening hours.
Who can access these appointments?
All patients registered at Houghton Close Surgery, Greensand Surgery and Barton-Le-Clay surgery can access these appointments.
Patients must contact their own GP practice to make an appointment. Each GP practice is part of a group of practices that by working together, are providing the service in Bedfordshire.
How do I book an appointment?
Contact your practice to request an appointment. If you would prefer an appointment outside of normal opening times, ask for an extended access appointment. Extended access appointments are not available to book on-line as we like to navigate you to see the correct healthcare professional.
How do I cancel an appointment?
If you need to cancel an extended access appointment, please contact your surgery during normal opening hours. If you need to cancel an appointment out of normal surgery hours please text 07395 642714 giving your name, date of birth and the date and time of your appointment.
Where do I go for my appointment?
When you book an extended access appointment your appointment will either be held at The Health Centre, Oliver Street, Ampthill MK45 2SB or could be a telephone appointment but you will be advised of the at the time of booking. If you are registered to receive text message alerts, you will receive a text message to confirm the date, time and location of your appointment.
The Health Centre
Oliver Street (use the same entrance as if going into Greensand Surgery)
Ampthill
Beds
MK45 2SB
Will the GP or Healthcare Professional I see have access to my medical record during my appointment?
Your medical record will be available to the GP or Healthcare Professional that sees you, to ensure that they have the information they need to give you the best possible care. The GP or Healthcare professional you see will update your record with full details of the consultation that has taken place to ensure that your record is up-to-date. An appointment with this service will be just like an appointment at your own GP practice.
Will I see my own GP and/or Healthcare Professional?
You will be seen by an experienced GP or Healthcare Professional, but it is unlikely that you will be seen by your own GP or Healthcare Professional. If you would prefer to see your usual GP or Healthcare Professional, please book an appointment during your surgeries normal opening hours.
If I have tests done as part of my appointment who do I contact for the results?
Please contact your own GP surgery in the normal way to get the results from tests.
Who do I contact if I am not happy with the appointment?
Please contact BEDOC Health Care Services
If urgent care is required please visit 111.nhs.uk for further advice. If your need is life threatening, please call 999 or go to A&E.
Heidi A.I. Privacy Notice
Privacy Notice – Use of Heidi AI Scribe in Patient Consultations
Houghton Close Surgery are committed to delivering the best possible care to our patients. To enhance the quality and efficiency of our consultations, clinicians (your GP or a member of the multidisciplinary team within practice) may use Heidi Health AI Scribe during your appointment. This section provides information about what Heidi Health AI Scribe is and how your consent is managed.
What is Heidi Health AI Scribe?
Heidi Health AI Scribe is an advanced, secure digital assistant designed to support clinicians during consultations. It uses artificial intelligence to document medical notes, ensuring your clinician can focus on actively listening to your concerns and delivering personalised care, rather than spending time manually recording the notes. Clinicians review and approve the notes that have been captured prior to adding to the patient record.
- Improved Interaction: Allows clinicians to focus solely on the patient during the consultation.
- Accurate Documentation: Helps create precise, clear, and detailed medical notes for the patient record.
- Time Efficiency: Streamlines administrative tasks, giving clinicians more time to spend with their patients.
Patient Consent
Your privacy and comfort are our top priorities. Heidi Health AI Scribe only processes information discussed during your appointment and operates within strict privacy and data protection regulations. Before using Heidi Health AI Scribe, your clinician will explain its role and seek your verbal consent. You have the right to decline its use at any time.
- Data Security: Heidi Health AI Scribe complies with UK data protection laws, including GDPR, ensuring that your information is handled securely and confidentially.
- Data Protection Officer: The Heidi Health Data Protection Impact Assessment has been reviewed and approved by the Data Protection Officer for Hillton Primary Care Network, on behalf of your GP Practice.
- Your Control: If you prefer not to have Heidi Health AI Scribe involved, please do let your clinician know. This will not affect the quality of care you receive.
- Please see the Houghton Close Surgery – Privacy Notice.
Policy written 3rd March 2025
– Dr Alistair Snape
Mission statement, strategy and values
Mission Statement
To provide high quality health care in a supportive, responsive, pro-active and professional manner.
Strategy
To use the principles of Good Medical Practice, working within the parameters of NHS guidelines and pathways, to provide best available and appropriate care for our patients. To also provide a supportive and nurturing environment for all staff.
Values
Compassion– To respond with empathy and kindness to patients’ needs, offering support and comfort.
Safety– To ensure a safe environment for both patients and staff, with a focus of continuous professional development and high standards of care.
Accountability– To take responsibility for our actions and strive for transparency and accountability in use of NHS resources.
Innovation– To embrace new technologies and approaches to improve services and adapt to changes in healthcare.
Teamwork– To recognise the importance of each team member and create a supportive environment to deliver high-quality care. To work closely with the Primary Care Network, Community and Voluntary Services and Secondary Care (Hospitals) to support patient care.
Everyone counts– To ensure that all individuals, regardless of background or circumstance, whether patient or staff, are treated fairly and respectfully and have access to the care they need.
Continuous Learning and Improvement– To actively seek feedback, learning from mistakes, and constantly working to improve services. To support the future NHS workforce through education of GP trainees and medical students, nurses and other allied staff roles.
Named GP
All practices are required to provide their patients with a named GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that the surgery provides to them.
Your named GP will have overall responsibility for your care but it does not prevent or restrict you from seeing any other GP or nurse in the Practice
Non-NHS Services Feedback & Complaints
Houghton Close Surgery policy on Managing Complaints About Non-NHS Services
Houghton Close Surgery provides some services outside the scope of NHS provision, the following policy sets out the process for feedback and complaints. Please read the policy below and then follow the link to the form at the base of this page.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to clarify the practice’s approach to complaints received about services that fall outside the scope of NHS provision, including private treatments, medico-legal work, occupational health reports, and other non-NHS services.
Scope
This policy applies to all staff and patients of Houghton Close Surgery and covers all services not funded or commissioned under the NHS General Medical Services (GMS) contract.
Policy Statement
Houghton Close Surgery is committed to high standards of care in both NHS and non-NHS work. However, the NHS complaints process applies only to services provided under the NHS. Complaints about private or non-NHS services must be handled differently and, where appropriate, directed to the relevant provider or regulatory body.
Definition of Non-NHS Services
Non-NHS services include, but are not limited to:
- Private medical assessments or treatments
- Insurance reports (e.g., for life, travel, or income protection)
- Medical reports for employment, legal, or court proceedings
- HGV/PCV or other driver medicals
- Vaccinations for travel (where not NHS-funded)
- Letters or forms requested for non-medical reasons (e.g., school letters, housing)
Managing Complaints About Non-NHS Services
- Initial Triage
- All complaints received will be reviewed to determine whether the service complained about falls under NHS or non-NHS provision.
- If the service is non-NHS, the complainant will be informed accordingly, in writing if necessary.
- Response to the Complainant
- Patients will be provided with a clear explanation that the NHS complaints procedure does not apply to the issue raised.
- If the complaint relates to a specific action or conduct of a GP or staff member during non-NHS work, the practice may choose to review the matter internally to ensure professional standards have been upheld.
- Where applicable, patients will be advised of alternative routes for redress, such as:
- Referral to the General Medical Council (GMC) for concerns about a doctor’s professional conduct.
- Seeking advice from legal advisors if the complaint relates to private contractual services.
- Contacting the service provider directly, if the service was delivered outside the practice.
- Record-Keeping
- A record of all complaints will be maintained, regardless of whether they relate to NHS or non-NHS services, in line with our complaints handling protocol.
- This helps monitor trends and identify any areas for improvement.
- Good Practice
- Although not covered under NHS procedures, the practice aims to treat all complainants respectfully and to use all feedback as an opportunity to improve services where possible.
Exclusions
- Complaints regarding private healthcare providers not employed or contracted by Houghton Close Surgery will not be investigated by the practice and must be directed to the relevant organisation.
Review and Monitoring
This policy will be reviewed annually or in response to any changes in national guidance or legal requirements.
Date of Approval: 11 August 2025
Review Date: 11 August 2025
Approved By: [Amanda Regan Practice Manager / Dr Michelle Saint Complaints Lead / GP Partner]
To provide feedback or make a complaint about non-NHS services please fill in the form here
Practice Privacy Policy
Privacy Notice
Houghton Close Surgery
Appendix A – The Practice will share patient information with these organisations where there is a legal basis to do so.
| Activity | Rationale |
| Commissioning and contractual purposes
Invoice Validation Planning Quality and Performance
|
Purpose – Anonymous data is used by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) for planning, performance, and commissioning purposes, as directed in the practices contract, to provide services as a public authority.
Legal Basis – UK GDPR 6 1(b) Contractual obligation as set out in the Health and Social Care Act for Quality and Safety 2015
Patients may opt out of having their personal confidential data used for Planning or research. Please contact your surgery to apply a Type 1 Opt out or logon to https://www.nhs.uk/your–nhs–datamatters/manage–your–choice/ to apply a National Data Opt Out
Processor – BLMK ICB |
| Summary Care Record
Including additional information |
Purpose –The NHS in England uses a national electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR) to support patient care. It contains key information from your GP record. Your SCR provides authorised healthcare staff with faster, secure access to essential information about you in an emergency or when you need unplanned care, where such information would otherwise be unavailable.
Legal Basis – Direct Care under UK GDPR : • Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and • Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine Patients have the right to opt out of having their information shared with the SCR by completion of the form which can be downloaded here and returned to the practice. Please note that by opting out of having your information shared with the Summary Care Record could result in a delay to care that may be required in an emergency. |
| Processor – NHS England and NHS Digital | |
| Research | Purpose – We may share anonymous patient information with research companies for the purpose of exploring new ways of providing healthcare and treatment for patients with certain conditions. This data will not be used for any other purpose.
Where personal confidential data is shared your consent will need to be required.
Where you have opted out of having your identifiable information shared for this Planning or Research your information will not be shared.
Legal Basis – Where sharing of personal identifiable data is required the legal basis of Article 6 1 (a) and 9 2 (h) Consent will be required.
Where identifiable data is required for research, patient consent will be needed, unless there is a legitimate reason under law to do so or there is support under the Health Service (Control of Patient Information Regulations) 2002 (‘section 251 support’) applying via the Confidentiality Advisory Group in England and Wales
Sharing of aggregated non identifiable data is permitted.
Processor – Available on Request |
| Individual Funding Requests | Purpose – We may need to process your personal information where we are required to fund specific treatment for you for a particular condition that is not already covered in our standard NHS contract.
The clinical professional who first identifies that you may need the treatment will explain to you the information that is needed to be collected and processed in order to assess your needs and commission your care; they will gain your explicit consent to share this. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time but this may affect the decision to provide individual funding.
Legal Basis – Under UK GDPR Article 6 1(a) consent is required 6 1 (e) Public Task Article 9 2 (h) health data
Data processor –BLMK ICB |
| Safeguarding Adults | Purpose – We will share personal confidential information with the safeguarding team where there is a need to assess and evaluate any safeguarding concerns and to protect the safety of individuals.
Consent may not be required to share information for this purpose.
Legal Basis – in some case consent will be required otherwise |
| • Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and
• Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine
Data Processor – BLMK Safeguarding Adults Team |
|
| Safeguarding Children | Purpose – We will share children’s personal information where there is a need to assess and evaluate any safeguarding concerns and to protect the safety of children.
Legal Basis – • Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and • Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine
Consent may not be required to share this information.
Data Processor – BLMK Children’s Services |
| Risk Stratification – Preventative Care | Purpose – ‘Risk stratification for case finding’ is a process for identifying and managing patients who have or may be at-risk of health conditions (such as diabetes) or who are most likely to need healthcare services (such as people with frailty). Risk stratification tools used in the NHS help determine a person’s risk of suffering a particular condition and enable us to focus on preventing ill health before it develops.
Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts, GP Federations and your GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information. This can help us identify and offer you additional services to improve your health.
If you do not wish information about you to be included in any risk stratification programmes, please let us know. We can add a code to your records that will stop your information from being used for this purpose. Please be aware that this may limit the ability of healthcare professionals to identify if you have or are at risk of developing certain serious health conditions.
Type of Data – Identifiable/Pseudonymised/Anonymised/Aggregate Data Legal Basis UK GDPR Art. 6(1) (e) Public task and Art.9 (2) (h) Health data. The use of identifiable data by ICBs and GPs for risk stratification has been approved by the Secretary of State, through the Confidentiality Advisory Group of the Health Research Authority (approval reference (CAG 7-04)(a)/2013)) and this approval has been extended to the end of September 2022 NHS England Risk Stratification which gives us a |
| statutory legal basis under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 to process data for risk stratification purposes which sets aside the duty of confidentiality. We are committed to conducting risk stratification effectively, in ways that are consistent with the laws that protect your confidentiality.
Processors – Available upon request |
|
| Public Health
Screening programmes (identifiable) Notifiable disease information (identifiable) Smoking cessation (anonymous) Sexual health (anonymous) Vaccination Programmes
|
Purpose – Personal identifiable and anonymous data is shared. The NHS provides national screening programmes so that certain diseases can be detected at an early stage. These currently apply to bowel cancer, breast cancer, aortic aneurysms and diabetic retinal screening service to name a few. The law allows us to share your contact information, and certain aspects of information relating to the screening with Public Health England so that you can be appropriately invited to the relevant screening programme.
More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/topic/population-screeningprogrammes [Or insert relevant link] or speak to the practice
Patients may not opt out of having their personal information shared for Public Health reasons.
Patients may opt out of being screened at the time of receiving an invitation.
Legal Basis: Sharing personal data for this purpose is governed by the COPI Reg 2. Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ 6 1 (f) Legitimate interests And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below 9 2 (i) Public health
Data Processors – Public Health BLMK Council |
| Direct Care
NHS Trusts Community Providers Pharmacies Enhanced care providers Nursing Homes Other Care Providers |
Purpose – Personal information is shared with other secondary care trusts and providers in order to provide you with individual direct care services. This could be hospitals or community providers for a range of services, including treatment, operations, physio, and community nursing, ambulance service.
Legal Basis – The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this surgery and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 1 (e) direct care and 9 2 (h) to provide health or social care:
In some cases patients may be required to consent to having their record opened by the third party provider before patients information is accessed. Where there is an overriding need to access the GP record in order to provide patients with life saving care, their consent will not be required.
|
| Processors – BLMK Hospitals Trusts | |
| Care Quality Commission | Purpose – The CQC is the regulator for the English Health and Social Care services to ensure that safe care is provided. They will inspect and produce reports back to the GP practice on a regular basis. The Law allows the CQC to access identifiable data.
More detail on how they ensure compliance with data protection law (including UK GDPR) and their privacy statement is available on our website: https://www.cqc.org.uk/about–us/our–policies/privacystatement
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(c) “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.” And Article 9(2) (h) as stated below
Processors – Care Quality Commission |
| Population Health
Management |
Purpose – Health and care services work together as ‘Integrated Care Systems’ (ICS) and are sharing data in order to:
• Understand the health and care needs of the care system’s population, including health inequalities • Provide support to where it will have the most impact • Identify early actions to keep people well, not only focusing on people in direct contact with services, but looking to join up care across different partners. (NB this links to the Risk Stratification activity identified above)
Type of Data – Identifiable/Pseudonymised/Anonymised/Aggregate Data. NB only organisations that provide your care will see your identifiable data.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) as stated below
Data Processors – Optum, Cerner |
| Payments, Invoice validation | Purpose – Contract holding GPs in the UK receive payments from their respective governments on a tiered basis. Most of the income is derived from baseline capitation payments made according to the number of patients registered with the practice on quarterly payment days. These amounts paid per patient per quarter varies according to the age, sex and other demographic details for each patient. There are also graduated payments made according to the practice’s achievement of certain agreed national quality targets known as the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), for instance the proportion of diabetic patients who have had an annual review. Practices can also receive payments for participating in agreed national or local enhanced services, for instance opening early in the morning or late at night or at the weekends. Practices can also receive payments for certain national initiatives such as immunisation programs and practices may also receive incomes relating to a variety of non-patient related elements such as premises. Finally there are short term initiatives and projects that practices can take part in. Practices or GPs |
| may also receive income for participating in the education of medical students, junior doctors and GPs themselves as well as research. In order to make patient based payments basic and relevant necessary data about you needs to be sent to the various payment services. The release of this data is required by English laws.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(c) “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.” And Article 9(2)(h) ‘as stated below
Data Processors – NHS England, ICB, Public Health |
|
| Patient Record data base | Purpose – Your medical record will be processed in order that a data base can be maintained, this is managed in a secure way and there are robust processes in place to ensure your medical record is kept accurate, and up to date. Your record will follow you as you change surgeries throughout your life.
A warning marker may be applied to your record if necessary for staff protection in accordance with practice policy. This will be reviewed on a regular basis and removed if no longer required.
Closed records will be archived by NHS England
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) as stated below
Processor – TPP System One, and PCSE
|
| Medical reports
Subject Access Requests
|
Purpose – Your medical record may be shared in order that:
Solicitors/persons acting on your behalf can conduct certain actions as instructed by you.
Insurance companies seeking a medical reports where you have applied for services offered by then can have a copy to your medical history for a specific purpose.
Legal Basis – under GDPR Article 6 1 (a) and 9 2 (a) explicit consentwill be required before a GP can share your record for either for these purposes.
Processor – Solicitors, Insurance organisations |
| Medicines Management
Team Medicines Optimisation |
Purpose – your medical record is shared with the medicines management team pharmacists, in order that your medication can be kept up to date and any necessary changes to medication can be implemented.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – BLMK ICB Medicines Optimisation |
| GP Federation
|
Purpose – Your medical record will be shared with BLMK ICS/ICB/Federation in order that they can provide direct care services to the patient population. This could be in the form of video consultations, Minor injuries clinics, GP extended access clinics. The Federation will be acting on behalf of the GP practice.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – BLMK ICS/ICB/Federation |
| Primary Care Network (PCN) | Purpose – Your medical record will be shared within Hillton PCN in order that they can provide direct care services to the patient population.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – Hillton PCN |
| Smoking cessation | Purpose – personal information is shared for the smoking cessation service to be provided.
Only those patients who wish to be party to this service will have their data shared
Legal Basis – Article 6 1 (a) and 9 2 (h) consent
Processor – Choose You |
| Social Prescribers | Purpose – Access to medical records is provided to social prescribers to undertake a full service to patients dependent on their health social care needs.
Only those patients who wish to be party to this service will have their data shared
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – Hillton PCN |
| Police | Purpose – Personal confidential information may be shared with the Police authority for certain purposes. The level of sharing and purpose for sharing may vary. Where there is a legal basis for this information to be shared consent will not always be required.
The Police will require the correct documentation in order to make a request. This could be but not limited to, DS 2, Court order, s137, the prevention and detection of a crime. Or where the information is necessary to protect a person or community.
|
| Legal Basis – UK GDPR –6 1 (c) Legal Obligation. Article 6 1 (f) legitimate interest
Article 9 2 (f) requests for legal reasons
Processor – Police Constabulary |
|
| Coroner
Medical Examiner |
Purpose – Personal health records or information relating to a deceased patient may be shared with the coroneror medical examinerupon request.
Legal Basis – UK GDPR Article 6 1 (c) Legal Obligation 9 2 (h) Health data
Processor – The Coroner, Medical Examiner |
| Private healthcare providers | Purpose – Personal information shared with private health care providers in order to deliver direct care to patients at the patient’s request. Consent from the patient will be required to share data with Private Providers.
Legal Basis – Article 6 1 (a) and 9 2 (h) Consented and under contract between the patient and the provider
Provider – LIVI |
| Messaging Service
|
Purpose – Personal identifiable information shared with the messaging service in order that messages including; appointment reminders; results; campaign messages related to specific patients health needs; and direct messages to patients, can be transferred to the patient in a safe way.
Legal Basis – UK GDPR Article 6 1 (b) Contract, Article 6 1 (e) Public task, Article 9 2 (h) Health data
Provider – Accurx, TPP SystmOne |
| Utilising self-booking links for patients to book appointments | Purpose –
Processing of data to send appointment booking links to patients – via the direct booking links or the Practice website.
Legal Basis of Processing – Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’ Article 9(2)(h) ‘… the provision of health or social care or treatment of management of health or social care systems…’
Provider – Accurx – Accubook
For further information of Hero Health Privacy Policy please see this link: Accurx | Privacy policy
|
| Remote consultation
Including – Video Consultation Clinical photography |
Purpose – Personal information including images may be processed, stored and with the patients consent shared, in order to provide the patient with urgent medical advice.
|
| Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Patients may be videod or asked to provide photographs with consent. There are restrictions on what the practice can accept photographs of. No photographs of the full face, no intimate areas, no pictures of patients who cannot consent to the process. No pictures of children.
Processor – AccuRX, |
||
| MDT meetings | Purpose – For some long-term conditions, the practice participates in meetings with staff from other agencies involved in providing care, to help plan the best way to provide care to patients with these conditions. Personal data will be shared with other agencies in order that mutual care packages can be decided.
Legal Basis – Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – Microsoft Teams |
|
| COVID-19
Research and Planning |
|
|
| General Practice
Extraction Service (GPES) |
Purpose – GP practices are required to provide data extraction of their patients personal confidential information for various purposes to NHS Digital. The objective of this data collection is on an ongoing |
| 1. At risk patients data collection Version 3
2. Covid-19 Planning and Research data 3. CVDPREVENT Audit 4. Physical Health Checks for people with Severe Mental Illness |
basis to identify patients registered at General Practices who fit within a certain criteria, in order to monitor and either provide direct care, or prevent serious harm to those patients. Below is a list of the purposes for the data extraction, by using the link you can find out the detail behind each data extraction and how your information will be used to inform this essential work:
1. At risk patients including severely clinically vulnerable
2. Covid-19 Planning and Research data, to control and prevent the risk of Covid-19
3. NHS England has directed NHS Digital to collect and analyse data in connection with Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Audit
4. GPES Physical Health Checks for people with Severe Mental Illness (PHSMI) data collection.
Legal Basis – All GP Practices in England are legally required to share data with NHS Digital for this purpose under section 259(1)(a) and (5) of the 2012 Act
Further detailed legal basis can be found in each link.
Any objections to this data collection should be made directly to NHS Digital. enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk
Processor – NHS Digital or NHS X |
| Medication/Prescribing | Purpose: Prescriptions containing personal identifiable and health data will be shared with organisations who provide medicines management including chemists/pharmacies, in order to provide patients with essential medication regime management, medicines and or treatment as their health needs dictate. This process is achieved either by face to face contact with the patient or electronically. Pharmacists may be employed to review medication, Patients may be referred to pharmacists to assist with diagnosis and care for minor treatment, patients may have specified a nominated pharmacy they may wish their repeat or acute prescriptions to be ordered and sent directly to the pharmacy making a more efficient process. Arrangements can also be made with the pharmacy to deliver care and medication
Legal Basis : Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor – Pharmacy of choice |
| Professional Training | Purpose – We are a training surgery. Our clinical team are required to be exposed to on the job, clinical experience, as well as continual professional development. On occasion you may be asked if you are |
| happy to be seen by one of our GP registrars, pharmacists or other clinical team to assist with their training as a clinical professional. You may also be asked if you would be happy to have a consultation recorded for training purposes. These recordings will be shared and discussed with training GPs at the surgery, and also with moderators at the RCGP and HEE.
Legal Basis – 6 1 (a) consent, patients will be asked if they wish to take part in training sessions. 9 2 (a) – explicit consent will be required when making recordings of consultations
Recordings remain the control of the GP practice and they will delete all recordings from the secure site once they are no longer required.
Processor – RCGP, HEE, iConnect, Fourteen Fish |
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| Telephony | Purpose – The practice use an internet based telephony system that records telephone calls, for their own purpose and to assist with patient consultations. The telephone system has been commissioned to assist with the high volume and management of calls into the surgery, which in turn will enable a better service to patients.
Legal Basis – While there is a robust contract in place with the processor, the surgery has undertaken this service to assist with the direct care of patients in a more efficient way. Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Provider – X-on Surgery Connect, Xon Surgery Assist |
| Learning Disability
Mortality Programme LeDer |
Purpose : The Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme was commissioned by NHS England to investigate the death of patients with learning difficulties and Autism to assist with processes to improve the standard and quality of care for people living with a learning disability and Autism. Records of deceased patients who meet with this criteria will be shared with NHS England.
Legal Basis: It has approval from the Secretary of State under section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 to process patient identifiable information who fit within a certain criteria.
Processor : ICB, NHS England |
| Technical Solution Pseudonymisation | Purpose: Personal confidential and special category data in the form of medical record, is extracted under contract for the purpose of pseudonymisation. This will allow no patient to be identified within the data set that is created. SCWCSU has been commissioned to provide a data processing service for the GPs, no other processing will be undertaken under this contract.
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| Legal Basis: Under UK GDPR the legitimate purpose for this activity is under contract to provide assistance.
Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor: SCW CSU or NHS M & L CSU, NHS Arden and GEM CSU |
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| Shared Care Record | Purpose: In order for the practice to have access to a shared record, the Integrated Care Service has commissioned a number of systems including GP connect, which is managed by NHS Digital, to enable a shared care record, which will assist in patient information to be used for a number of care related services. These may include Population Health Management, Direct Care, and analytics to assist with planning services for the use of the local health population.
Where data is used for secondary uses no personal identifiable data will be used.
Where personal confidential data is used for Research explicit consent will be required.
Legal Basis: Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor: NHS Digital |
| Local shared care record BOB ICB | Purpose: Health and Social care services are developing shared systems to share data efficiently and quickly. It is important for anyone treating you to be able to access your shared record so that they have all the information they need to care for you. This will be during your routine appointments and in urgent situations such as going to A&E, calling 111 or going to an Out of hours appointment. It is also quicker for staff to access a shared record than to try to contact other staff by phone or email.
Only authorised staff can access the systems and the information they see is carefully checked so that it relates to their job. Systems do not share all your data, just data which services have agreed is necessary to include.
Legal Basis: Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor: BLMK ICB |
| Anticoagulation Monitoring | Purpose: Personal Confidential data is shared with LumiraDX in order to provide an anticoagulation clinic to patients who are on anticoagulation medication. This will only affect patients who are within this criteria.
Legal Basis: The legal basis for this activity under UK GDPR is |
| Article 6(1)(e); “necessary… in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ And Article 9(2)(h) Health data as stated below
Processor : INRStar |
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| Weight and Wellbeing
programme
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Purpose – personal information is shared in order for the Weight and Wellbeing lifestyle intervention programme to be provided.
Only those patients who wish to be party to this service will have their data shared. Legal Basis – Article 6 1 (a) and 9 2 (h) consent Processor – Xpert Health Training & Education Ltd, CX Services Ltd |
| Accurx Patient Triage – Online
Consultation Platform |
Purpose: Online consultation allows the patients to contact the Practice without having to wait on the phone or take time to come into the practice in person especially if a patient is not sure whether they need a face-to-face consultation. Online consultations enable patients to use a secure online system to ask questions, report symptoms and the practice can then respond by signposting patients to the right person e.g. a doctor or to appropriate service or support.
Legal Basis: Article 6 1 (b) Contract where the data subject is party Article 6 (1) (e) of the GDPR, which permits us to process your personal information that is necessary to provide a service which is in the public interest Article 9(2) (h) of the GDPR which permits us to process your health information which is necessary for the provision of health treatment.
Processor: Accurx Limited
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| Heidi A.I. – Transcribing conversations to the electronic health record EHR. | Heidi A.I.
As part of the Digital First National programme of work, GP Practices are required to record accurate data about patient interaction, especially within consultations. To assist with this administrative task, the practice is using a new technology known as Heidi AI. The primary purposes include improving clinical documentation, aiding healthcare professionals in notetaking, and generating consult summaries. Heidi technology enables clinicians to focus on patients during the consultation, contributing to improved patient care. It also acts as a valuable tool for medical practitioners, saving them hours of administrative time per week. Heidi works by transcribing speech into text from a healthcare encounter such as conversations between clinicians and patients or by clinicians dictating their clinical findings, impression and/or management plans before, during and after the healthcare encounter. The clinician can also add additional contextual notes about the healthcare encounter. This system is designed to alleviate the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, allowing them to focus more on patient care rather than paperwork. The Heidi Scribe will leverage natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition technology, and machine learning algorithms to understand and interpret complex medical dialogue, identify key health information, and categorise data into the appropriate sections of an Electronic Health Record (EHR). Your consent will be sought for consultations that are transcribed using the Heidi AI tool. Heidi also uses aggregated de-identified information from these consults to improve its models and outputs, ultimately improving both patient care and clinician experience. All Data that identifies you stays within the practice and its servers which are UK based, no identifiable data is used by the Heidi tool for machine learning. Heidi AI will not make decisions about your care, it only transcribes verbal interactions with the practice, with your consent. More information about the model can be found on the Heidi website here: – https://www.heidihealth.com/uk Privacy Policy UK | Heidi Health
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We keep our Privacy Notice under regular review. This notice was last reviewed on 04th February 2025.
Lawful basis for processing:
The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this surgery and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the UK GDPR:
- Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and
- Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…”
Objections/Complaints
Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the GP, please contact the GP Practice Manager or the Data Protection Officer as above. If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice, you have a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority:
You have a right to complain to the UK supervisory Authority as below:
- Information Commissioner:
Wycliffe house,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF - Tel: 01625 545745
- https://ico.org.uk/
If you are happy for your data to be used for the purposes described in this privacy notice, then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, then please contact Greensand Surgery Data Protection Officer.
If you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you, please contact the Data Protection Officer as below.
Data Protection Officer
The Data Protection Officer for the for the GPs for the Bedfordshire Luton and Milton Keynes GP Practices signed to Arden and GEMCSU is:
Judith Jordan, Arden & GEM Head of Integrated Governance, but we have a team who carry out the function, the contact details are:
- Email:agem.dpo@nhs.net
- Telephone: 0121 611 0730
Changes:
It is important to point out that we may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our Privacy Notice, please contact the Houghton Close Surgery Data Protection Officer.
Social Media Patient Policy
There are many social media platforms that are widely used by both staff and patients; these include Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. At Houghton Close Surgery we have a Facebook page and Google business page, which provide a range of useful information for our patient population.
Houghton Close Surgery has a duty to maintain patient confidentiality and to safeguard vulnerable patients. You can help us achieve this by adhering to the code of conduct outlined in this policy.
Patients at Houghton Close Surgery are expected to adhere to the following code of conduct at all times:
- The practice requires all users of portable devices to use them in a courteous and considerate manner, respecting their fellow patients. Portable devices are not to be used during consultations.
- Patients are not permitted to disclose any patient-identifiable information about other patients, unless they have the express consent of that patient.
- Patients must not post any material that is inaccurate, fraudulent, harassing, embarrassing, obscene, defamatory or unlawful. The practice will ask the patient to immediately remove any such posts. If this is not complied with the practice will deem this as a breakdown in practice/patient relationship and a warning letter will be issued to the patient. Should the post not be removed or there are further occurrences the patient will be asked to re-register with another practice.
- Defamatory comments about our team are not to be shared on any social media platform. Legal advice may be sought, and the appropriate action taken against any patient who posts defamatory comments.
- Patients are not permitted to take photographs in the waiting room or areas where other patients are present, nor are photographs of staff permitted.
- Patients must not post comments on social media that identify staff who work at the practice.
Patient complaints on social media
We have a separate complaints policy which patients are to use, should they wish to make a complaint please visit out website or ask our reception team for the complaints process.
Summary Care Records
Care professionals in England use an electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR). This can provide those involved in your care with faster secure access to key information from your GP record.
What is a SCR?
If you are registered with a GP practice in England, you will already have an SCR unless you have previously chosen not to have one.
It includes the following basic information:
- Medicines you are taking
- Allergies you suffer from
- Any bad reactions to medicines
It also includes your name, address, date of birth and unique NHS number which helps to identify you correctly.
What choices do you have?
You can now choose to include information in your SCR, such as significant medical history (past and present), information about management of long term conditions, immunisations and patient preferences such as end of life care information, particular care needs and communication preferences.
If you would like to do this, talk to your GP practice as it can be added with your permission.
Remember, you can change your mind about your SCR at any time. Talk to your GP practice if you want to discuss your option to add more information or decide you no longer want an SCR.
Vulnerable Patients and Carers
Having an SCR that includes extra information can be of particular benefit to patients with detailed and complex health problems. If you are a carer for someone and believe that this may benefit them, you could discuss it with them and their GP practice.
Who can see my SCR?
Only authorised care professional staff in England who are involved in your direct care can have access to your SCR. Your SCR will not be used for any other purposes.
These staff:
- Need to have a Smartcard with a chip and passcode
- Will only see the information they need to do their job
- Will have their details recorded every time they look at your record
Care professionals will ask for your permission if they need to look at your SCR. If they cannot ask you because you are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, they may decide to look at your record because doing so is in your best interest. This access is recorded and checked to ensure that it is appropriate.
SCRs for children
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16, and feel they are able to understand this information you should show it to them. You can then support them to come to a decision about having an SCR and whether to include additional information.
Confidentiality
For information on how the NHS will collect, store and allow access to your electronic records visit the NHS website.
For more information talk to the staff at your GP practice or visit www.hscic.gov.uk. You can also phone the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) on 0300 303 5678.
Teaching and Training Practice
Dr Shaheena Sookun, and Dr Alistair Snape are the practice trainers. All the Partners are actively involved in the teaching process by providing tutorials and de-briefing sessions. We participate in the Bedfordshire VTS schemes taking ST2’S and ST3’s and are also involved in mentoring and training of other staff including nursing team members.
We are also involved in teaching medical students from the University of Cambridge during their clinical years (Year 4, 5 and 6). You may be asked to be seen by a medical student who is being supervised by a fully qualified doctor. Please let us know if you would rather not speak to our students”.
We have two registrars training with us at most times. They are qualified doctors and we will be asking for your consent for videoing some of the consultations for their training.
Zero Tolerance
NHS Staff must be able to come to work without fear of violence, abuse or harassment from patients or their relatives. The NHS has a zero tolerance attitude towards violence.
Violent, threatening or abusive behaviour including shouting and swearing will not be tolerated at this practice.
Patients who act in such a manner will be asked to leave the premises; the Police may be called and you could be removed from our patient list.
Our staff are here to help you, please treat them with respect.