Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments.

In May 2018, the strict rules about how this data can and cannot be used were strengthened.  The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

You can choose whether your confidential patient information is used for research and planning.

To find out more visit:  nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.   

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

Requests for access to medical records from solicitors, insurance companies and the police will be dealt with on an individual basis, and patient consent will be sought where appropriate.   Please contact our Data Protection Officer at kmicb.smp@nhs.net 

All S251 Approval Requests should be sent to our Kent & Medway ICB appointed GP Data Protection Officer Team at kmicb.dpo@nhs.net

As your GP practice, we are providing you with acces to your full medical record via the NHS App (and NHS website) if you have a suitable NHS login, from 31st October 2023.  We are aware that not everyone will want to access their full record on the internet at this time, and some patients may have concerns about their personal medical records being made available on their smartphone or online, especially if other people have access to their devices.  If you would like to switch off access for the time being, please let us know.  You can change your mind at any time by contacting the practice.