Privacy Policy

AI Scribe

Harborne Medical is 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 team within our practice) may use an AI Scribe during your appointment. The AI Scribe we are currently using is the Heidi Health AI Scribe. The information below tells you what an AI Scribe is, how this benefits patients and how your consent is managed.

What is an AI Scribe?

An 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.

What are the benefits of using an AI Scribe?

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.

Consent and Security

Your privacy and comfort are our top priorities. The AI Scribe we are using only processes information discussed during your appointment and operate within strict privacy and data protection regulations. Before using an AI Scribe, your clinician will explain its role if you want them to and seek your verbal consent. You have the right to decline its use at any time.

Data Security

The AI Scribe we are using complies with UK data protection laws, including GDPR, ensuring that your information is handled securely and confidentially. We will only ever use AI Scribes which comply with this legislation and we will tell you if the provider of our AI Scribe changes.
Your Control: If you prefer not to have an AI Scribe involved, please do let your clinician know. This will not affect the quality of care you receive.

Please speak to one of our practice staff if you have any further questions about this.

Shared Care Record

Shared-Care-Leaflet.pdf

Birmingham-and-Solihull-Shared-Care-Record.doc

Digitisation of Medical Records

Medical-Record-Digitisation-Privacy-Notice-1.docx

Access to Information

All members of the Practice Team have access to patient information to differing degrees. All staff have signed a confidentiality statement. Patients data held on our computer system is protected by individual user passwords. All patients are entitled to have access to their medical records with a few exceptions.

Accessing your Medical Records

The best way to view your medical record is via the NHS App. If you need anything further, please contact reception.

Practice Privacy Notice for the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

Your data, privacy and the Law.

How we use your medical records – Important information for patients

This practice handles medical records in-line with laws on data protection and confidentiality.
We share medical records with those who are involved in providing you with care and treatment.
Some of your data is automatically copied to the Shared Care Summary Record
We may share some of your data with local out of hours / urgent or emergency care service
Data about you is used to manage national screening campaigns such as Flu, Cervical cytology and Diabetes prevention.
Your data is used to check the quality of care provided by the NHS.
In some circumstances we will also share medical records for medical research, for example to find out more about why people get ill.
We share information when the law requires us to do, for instance when we are inspected or reporting certain illnesses or safeguarding vulnerable people.
You have the right to be given a copy of your medical record.
You have the right to object to your medical records being shared with those who provide you with care.
You have the right to object to your information being used for medical research and to plan health services.
You have the right to have any mistakes corrected and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The practice takes part in medical research and please let us know if you object to your information being used for these purposes.
CCTV is in operation within communal areas of the practice.

How Harborne Medical uses your information to provide you with healthcare

This practice keeps medical records confidential and complies with
the General Data Protection Regulation.

We hold your
medical record so that we can provide you with safe care and treatment.

We will also
use your information so that this practice can check and review the quality of
the care we provide. This helps us to improve our services to you.

We will share relevant information from your medical record with
other health or social care staff or organisations when they provide you with
care. For example, your GP will share information when they refer you to a
specialist in a hospital. Or your GP will send details about your prescription
to your chosen pharmacy.
Healthcare staff working in A&E and out of hours care will also have access to your information. For example, it is important that staff who are treating you in an emergency know if you have any allergic reactions. This will involve the use of your Summary Care Record.
You have the right to object to information being shared for your
own care. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object. You also have the
right to have any mistakes or errors corrected.

Data Controller contact details	Umar Sabat
Data Protection Officer contact details	umar.sabat@ig-health.co.uk
Purpose of the processing	To give direct health or social care to individual patients. For example, when a patient agrees to a referral for direct care, such as to a hospital, relevant information about the patient will be shared with the other healthcare staff to enable them to give appropriate advice, investigations, treatments and/or care. To check and review the quality of care. (This is called audit and clinical governance).
Lawful basis for processing	These purposes are supported under the following sections of the 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...” Healthcare staff will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence.
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data	The data will be shared with: healthcare professionals and staff in this surgery;local hospitals; out of hours services; diagnostic and treatment centres; or other organisations involved in the provision of direct care to individual patients.
Rights to object	You have the right to object to information being shared between those who are providing you with direct care. This may affect the care you receive – please speak to the practice. You are not able to object to your name, address and other demographic information being sent to NHS Digital. This is necessary if you wish to be registered to receive NHS care. You are not able to object when information is legitimately shared for safeguarding reasons. In appropriate circumstances it is a legal and professional requirement to share information for safeguarding reasons. This is to protect people from harm. The information will be shared with the local safeguarding service.
Right to access and correct	You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period	GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records are kept can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016 or speak to the practice.
Right to complain	You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain follow this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or call the helpline 0303 123 1113
Data we get from other organisations	We receive information about your health from other organisations who are involved in providing you with health and social care. For example, if you go to hospital for treatment or an operation the hospital will send us a letter to let us know what happens. This means your GP medical record is kept up-to date when you receive care from other parts of the health service.

Registering for NHS care
All patients who receive NHS care are registered on a national database. This database holds your name, address, date of birth and NHS Number but it does not hold information about the care you receive. The database is held by NHS Digital, a national organisation which has legal responsibilities to collect NHS data.

Identifying patients who might be at risk of certain diseases
Your medical records will be searched by a computer programme so that we can identify patients who might be at high risk from certain diseases such as heart disease or unplanned admissions to hospital. This means we can offer patients additional care or support as early as possible. This process will involve linking information from your GP record with information from other health or social care services you have used. Information which identifies you will only be seen by this practice.

Safeguarding
Sometimes we need to share information so that other people, including healthcare staff, children or others with safeguarding needs, are protected from risk of harm.This information may be shared with the local safeguarding service. These circumstances are rare.When information is legitimately shared, we do not need your consent or agreement to do this.

Data Controller contact details	Harborne Medical, 4 York Street, Harborne, B17 0HG
Data Protection Officer contact details	Dr Meade, Harborne Medical
Purpose of the processing	Compliance with legal obligations or court order.
Lawful basis for processing	The following sections of the GDPR mean that we can share information when the law tells us to. Article 6(1)(c) – ‘processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject…’ Article 9(2)(h) – ‘processing is necessary for the purpose of preventative…medicine…the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...’
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data	The data will be shared with NHS Digital.The data will be shared with the Care Quality Commission. The data will be shared with our local health protection team or Public Health England. The data will be shared with the court if ordered.
Rights to object and the national data opt-out	There are very limited rights to object when the law requires information to be shared but government policy allows some rights of objection as set out below. NHS Digital: You have the right to object to information being shared with NHS Digital for reasons other than your own direct care. This is called a ‘Type 1’ objection – you can ask your practice to apply this code to your record. Please note: The ‘Type 1’ objection, however, will no longer be available after 2020. This means you will not be able to object to your data being shared with NHS Digital when it is legally required under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Public health Legally information must be shared under public health legislation. This means that you are unable to object. Care Quality Commission Legally information must be shared when the Care Quality Commission needs it for their regulatory functions. This means that you are unable to object. Court order: Your information must be shared if it ordered by a court. This means that you are unable to object.
Right to access and correct	You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period	GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records are kept can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016 or speak to the practice.
Right to complain	You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain follow this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or call the helpline 0303 123 1113

How your information is shared so that this practice can meet legal requirements The law requires Harborne Medical to share information from your medical records in certain circumstances. Information is shared so that the NHS or Public Health England can, for example: plan and manage services;check that the care being provided is safe; prevent infectious diseases from spreading. We will share information with NHS Digital, the Care Quality Commission and local health protection team (or Public Health England) when the law requires us to do so. Please see below for more information. We must also share your information if a court of law orders us to do so.
NHS Digital NHS Digital is a national body which has legal responsibilities to collect information about health and social care services. It collects information from across the NHS in England and provides reports on how the NHS is performing. These reports help to plan and improve services to patients. This practice must comply with the law and will send data to NHS Digital, for example, when it is told to do so by the Secretary of State for Health or NHS England under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. More information about NHS Digital and how it uses information can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/home

Care Quality Commission (CQC) The CQC
regulates health and social care services to ensure that safe care is
provided.

The law
says that we must report certain serious events to the CQC, for example, when
patient safety has been put at risk.

For more
information about the CQC see: http://www.cqc.org.uk/

Public Health The law requires us to share data for public health reasons, for
example to prevent the spread of infectious diseases or other diseases which
threaten the health of the population.

We will report the relevant information to local health protection team
or Public Health England.

For more information about Public Health England and disease reporting
see: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notifiable-diseases-and-causative-organisms-how-to-report

Data Controller contact details	Harborne Medical, 4 York Street, Harborne, B17 0HG
Data Protection Officer contact details	Dr Meade, Harborne Medical
Purpose of the processing	The NHS provides several national health screening programmes to detect diseases or conditions early such as cervical and breast cancer, aortic aneurysm and diabetes. The information is shared so that the correct people are invited for screening.This means those who are most at risk can be offered treatment.
Lawful basis for processing	The following sections of the GDPR allow us to contact patients for screening. Article 6(1)(e) – ‘processing is necessary…in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller...’’ Article 9(2)(h) – ‘processing is necessary for the purpose of preventative…medicine…the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...’
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data	National NHS Screening Database
Rights to object	For national screening programmes: you can opt so that you no longer receive an invitation to a screening programme. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opting-out-of-the-nhs-population-screening-programmes
Right to access and correct	You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period	GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records can be kept can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016 or speak to the practice.
Right to complain	You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain follow this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or call the helpline 0303 123 1113
Data we get from other organisations	We receive information about your health from other organisations who are involved in providing you with health and social care. For example, if you go to hospital for treatment or an operation the hospital will send us a letter to let us know what happens. This means your GP medical record is kept up-to date when you receive care from other parts of the health service.

National screening programmes
The NHS provides national screening programmes so that certain diseases can be detected at an early stage. These screening programmes include bowel cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, aortic aneurysms and a diabetic eye screening service. The law allows us to share your contact information with Public Health England so that you can be invited to the relevant screening programme. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/topic/population-screening-programmes or speak to the practice.

Data Controller contact details	Harborne Medical, 4 York Street, Harborne, B17 0HG
Data Protection Officer contact details	Dr Meade, Harborne Medical
Purpose of the processing	Medical research and to check the quality of care which is given to patients (this is called national clinical audit).
Lawful basis for processing	The following sections of the GDPR mean that we can use medical records for research and to check the quality of care (national clinical audits) Article 6(1)(e) – ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’. For medical research: there are two possible Article 9 conditions. Article 9(2)(a) – ‘the data subject has given explicit consent…’ To check the quality of care (clinical audit): Article 9(2)(h) – ‘processing is necessary for the purpose of preventative…medicine…the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...’
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data	For national clinical audits which check the quality of care the data will be shared with NHS Digital.
Rights to object and the national data opt-out	You have a right to object under the GDPR and the right to ‘opt-out’ under the national data opt-out model. The national data opt-out model provides an easy way for you to opt-out of: information that identifies you being used or shared for medical research purposes and quality checking or audit purposes. Please contact the practice if you wish to opt-out.
Right to access and correct	You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. We are not aware of any circumstances in which you will have the right to delete correct information from your medical record; although you are free to obtain your own legal advice if you believe there is no lawful purpose for which we hold the information and contact us if you hold a different view.
Retention period	GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records are kept can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016 or speak to the practice.
Right to complain	You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you wish to complain follow this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or call the helpline 0303 123 1113

Medical research
Harborne Medical shares information from medical records: to support medical research when the law allows us to do so, for example to learn more about why people get ill and what treatments might work best; we will also use your medical records to carry out research within the practice. This is important because: the use of information from GP medical records is very useful in developing new treatments and medicines; medical researchers use information from medical records to help answer important questions about illnesses and disease so that improvements can be made to the care and treatment patients receive. You have the right to object to your identifiable information being used or shared for medical research purposes. Please speak to the practice if you wish to object

Checking the quality of care - national clinical audits
Harborne Medical contributes to national clinical audits so that healthcare can be checked and reviewed. Information from medical records can help doctors and other healthcare workers measure and check the quality of care which is provided to you. The results of the checks or audits can show where hospitals are doing well and where they need to improve. The results of the checks or audits are used to recommend improvements to patient care.Data are sent to NHS Digital, a national body with legal responsibilities to collect data. The data will include information about you, such as your NHS Number and date of birth and information about your health which is recorded in coded form - for example the code for diabetes or high blood pressure. We will only share your information for national clinical audits or checking purposes when the law allows. For more information about national clinical audits see the Healthcare Quality Improvements Partnership website: https://www.hqip.org.uk/ or phone 020 7997 7370. You have the right to object to your identifiable information being shared for national clinical audits. Please contact the practice if you wish to object.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients.