Privacy Notice for Young People

What is this about?

This leaflet tells you what happens to the details that George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust collects about you and what we do to keep it safe.

 What information is collected?

We collect information about you such as:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your birthday and year
• Your family doctor
• What we do to care for you
• The reason that you are coming to see us
• The name of the person who will normally bring you to your appointments
• Any information that your doctor, you or your family gives us

Why do we collect your information?

We collect information so that we can deliver care to you in the best way. We ask for your address so that we know where we can contact you. We ask for your date of birth as your age may be important to your care.

Each time we see you we will write down things that you tell us, things that we tell you and any medicines or exercises we give you. This means we can look back at what we have done for you to make sure we are treating you in the best way.

How can you see your information?

If you are in our hospital you can ask to see the records while you are with us.

You or your family will need to ask your doctor or nurse first though as there may be things that we would need to explain to you such as abbreviations or medical words.

If you are not in the hospital, you can ask for copies of your records. If you are under 13 you will need to ask your parents to make the request. These will be posted to you or sent electronically.

What do we do with your information?

We keep your information electronically and on paper. This is called your health record. You might also hear it called your ‘notes’ by our doctors and nurses.

Your health record will be given a number. You were given an NHS Number when you were born. If you come into hospital you will also be given a hospital number. These numbers help doctors, nurses and other staff such as Medical Secretaries to make sure your health record is correct and up to date.

Anyone involved in your care at the hospital can see what has been collected. This way we can use the information you have given us to make the right choices about your care. Sometimes we may need to use your information to help us investigate concerns or complaints.

How do we share your information?

We share information about you with your family doctor. This keeps them up to date about what we are doing for you.

Your parents or guardians should also get a copy of any letters we send to your doctor about your care. Sometimes we might share it with other hospitals that you are being treated at. We might also share it with your school if we think it is important for them to know. If you have a social worker, we will share it with them too.

If you tell us something that makes us worried about your safety or the safety of someone else you know, we might have to share this with other people outside of the hospital - even if you don’t want us to. This is part of our job to keep you and others safe.

How do we keep your information safe?

Everyone working at George Eliot Hospital understands that they need to keep your information safe. Our staff are taught how to keep your information confidential, private and safe. We tell them that they are only allowed to look at your information if they are involved in your care or if they need it to help us run our hospital. They understand that they must keep any information about you safe.

This is very important when we look at the information that identifies you. This information might include your name or address and anything you come to see us about. We are not allowed to give any of this information to anyone who shouldn’t see it. This includes talking to people about it.

How long do we keep your information?

We will keep your details until your 26th birthday. After this we will destroy it unless we feel it needs to be kept for your ongoing care or for your safety.

What are your rights?

Everyone has rights in relation to the information we hold. These are your rights:

• Right to Know: How is your information used?
• Right to See: You can ask to look at the information people have about you.
• Right to Fix: You can ask to correct any mistakes in your information.
• Right to Delete: You can ask to remove your information.
• Right to Control: You can say how your information is used.
• Right to Move: You can take your information to another place.
• Right to Say No: You can object to how your information is used.
• Right to Challenge: You can question decisions made about you by computers.

If you are not happy with how we are using your information you can make a complaint about us. You can contact the details Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF. Or via their website www.ico.org.uk.

 If I want to know more, who can I ask?

You can ask anyone who is treating you at George Eliot Hospital. You can also contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protectionofficer@geh.nhs.uk.

Equality

At George Eliot Hospital we are fully committed to equality and diversity, both as an employer and as a service provider. We have a policy statement in our Equality Strategy that clearly outlines our commitment to equality for service users, patients and staff:

• You and your family have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about your treatment and care.
• You can expect to be treated with dignity and respect.
• You will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
• You have a responsibility to treat other service users, patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

George Eliot Hospital is a smoke free environment. For help and advice to stop smoking you can call the national helpline on 0300 123 1044 or visit https://fitterfutures.everyonehealth.co.uk/stop-smoking-service/ ​​​​​​. You can also call the local telephone number for the Warwickshire service on 0333 005 0092 or Coventry service on 0800 112 3780.

Copyright

Except where otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on our patient information resources website, for which you have not given permission, or is not covered by a limitation or exception in national law, please contact us using the Feedback form providing your contact information and full details of the material.