Your confidentiality
Healthcare professionals have always had a professional, ethical and legal responsibility to keep your details secure. These responsibilities have not changed.
People who can see your national Summary Care Record (SCR) and your local Oxfordshire Care Summary (OCS):
Must be directly involved in your care;- Must have your permission each time they view your records; except in exceptional circumstances e.g. in a medical emergency
- Must use a secure NHS network, known as N3
- Must use an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode (similar to a bank card and PIN) - for the SCR
- Must be a registered, authorised user with a secure username and password;
- Must only view the information required to do their job. By law, everyone working for or on behalf of the NHS must respect your confidentiality and keep all information about you secure;
- Will have their access electronically monitored.
These measures mean that your information is stored safely, stays private and can only be looked at by those healthcare professionals supporting or providing your care. The NHS Care Record Guarantee for England and the NHS Constitution both set out how the NHS should handle your records to protect your privacy. You can view these documents at
www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/security/