Data Protection Notice

For information about the use of your data for COVID-19 testing, please visit the Scottish Government's Information Governance web page.

BSL Data Protection Notice Video

About NHS Lanarkshire

NHS Lanarkshire is a public organisation created in Scotland under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (the 1978 Act). It is one of the organisations which form part of NHS Scotland (NHSS).

Our headquarters are:

NHS Lanarkshire
Kirklands
Fallside Road
Bothwell
G71 8BB

ICO Registration Number: Z8528515

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About the personal information we use

We use personal information on different groups of individuals including:

Patients and their legal representatives
Staff, volunteers, students and applicants
Contractors
Suppliers
Complainants, enquirers
Survey respondents
Professional experts and consultants
Individuals captured by CCTV

The personal information we use includes information that identifies you like your name, address, date of birth and postcode.

We also use more sensitive types of personal information (special category), including information about racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; genetic and biometric data, health; sex life or sexual orientation.

The information we use can relate to personal and family details; education, training and employment details; financial details; lifestyle and social circumstances; goods and services; visual images; details held in the patient record; responses to surveys.

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Our purposes for using personal information

Under the 1978 Act NHS Lanarkshire has the statutory responsibility to provide or arrange for the provision of a range of healthcare, health improvement and health protection services. We are given these tasks so that we can help to promote the improvement of the physical and mental health of the people of NHS Lanarkshire and assist in operating a comprehensive and integrated national health service in Scotland.

We use personal information to enable us to provide healthcare services for patients (including reminding you of appointments), data matching under the national fraud initiative; research; supporting and managing our employees; maintaining our accounts and records and the use of CCTV and Body Worn Video systems for crime prevention.

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Our legal basis for using personal information

NHS Lanarkshire, as data controller, is required to have a legal basis when using personal information. NHS Lanarkshire considers that performance of our tasks and functions are in the public interest. So, when using personal information our legal basis is usually that its use is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official authority vested in us. In some situations, we may rely on a different legal basis; for example, when we disclose personal information to comply with a legal request (e.g. a court order), our legal basis is that its use is necessary to comply with the legal obligation. Another example would be for compliance with a legal obligation to which NHS Lanarkshire is subject to, for example under the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 we are required to notify Health Protection Scotland when someone contracts a specific disease.

When we are using more sensitive types of personal information, including health information, our legal basis is usually that the use is necessary:

for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services; or
for reasons of public interest in the area of public health; or
for reasons of substantial public interest for aims that are proportionate and respect people’s rights; or
for archiving purposes, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to appropriate safeguards; or
in order to protect the vital interests of an individual; or
for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims or in the case of a court order.

On rare occasions we may rely on your explicit consent as our legal basis for using your personal information. When we do this, we will explain what it means, and the rights that are available to you.

You should be aware that we will continue to ask for your consent for other things like taking part in a drug trial, or when you are having an operation. This consent, known as clinical consent, relates to your willingness to participate in a specific activity or receive a particular service or treatment and is not linked to the lawful basis upon which we rely to process your personal data under data protection legislation. Where you have provided consent, we will make it clear to you that you have the right to withdraw your consent at any point.

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Who provides the personal information

When you do not provide information directly to us, we receive it from other individuals and organisations involved in the delivery of health and social care services in Scotland. These include other NHS Boards and primary care contractors such as GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians, other public bodies e.g. Local Authorities and suppliers of goods and services.

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Transferring personal information abroad

NHS Lanarkshire do not routinely transfer any data outside of the UK, but when information is transferred outside the UK, we will do so in full compliance with the NHS Scotland Information Security Policy. NHS Lanarkshire will ensure that data is only transferred to countries where appropriate data protection safeguards are in place. An example of this may be where a patient requires overseas medical treatment resulting in the transfer of medical information outside of the UK.

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Retention periods of the information we hold

Within NHS Lanarkshire we keep personal information as set out in the Scottish Government Records Management: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE CODE OF PRACTICE (SCOTLAND) 2020. The Code of Practice sets out minimum retention periods for information, including personal information, held in different types of records including personal health records and administrative records. As directed by the Scottish Government in the Records Management Code of Practice, we maintain a retention schedule as part of our Records Management policy detailing the minimum retention period for the information and procedures for the safe disposal of personal information.

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How we protect personal information

We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people. Our staff have a legal and contractual duty to keep personal health information secure, and confidential. The following security measures are in place to protect personal information:

All staff undertake mandatory training in Data Protection and IT Security
Compliance with NHS Scotland Information Security Policy
Organisational policy and procedures on the safe handling of personal information
Access controls and audits of electronic systems.

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Your rights

This section contains a description of your data protection rights within NHS Lanarkshire.

The right to be informed

NHS Lanarkshire must explain how we use your personal information. We use a number of ways to communicate how personal information is used, including:

This Data Protection Notice
Information leaflets
Discussions with staff providing your care

The right of access

You have the right to access your own personal information.

This right includes making you aware of what information we hold along with the opportunity to satisfy you that we are using your information fairly and legally.

You have the right to obtain:

Confirmation that your personal information is being held or used by us
Access to your personal information
Additional information about how we use your personal information

Although we must provide this information free of charge, if your request is considered unfounded or excessive, or if you request the same information more than once, we may charge a reasonable fee.

If you would like to access your personal information, you can do this by contacting the Data Protection Team as detailed below:

Data Protection Team
NHS Lanarkshire
Kirklands
Fallside Road
Bothwell
G71 8BB

Telephone: 01698 752992

Email: Dataprotectionenquiries@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

Please note, emails from your private email address may not be secure.

Once we have received your request and you have provided us with enough information for us to locate your personal information, we will respond to your request without delay, within one month (30 days). However, if your request is complex, we may take longer, by up to a further two months, to respond. If this is the case, we will tell you and explain the reason for the delay.

The right to rectification

If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete you have the right to have this corrected.

If it is agreed that your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will aim to amend your records accordingly, normally within one month, or within two months where the request is complex. However, we will contact you as quickly as possible to explain this further if the need to extend our timescales applies to your request. Unless there is a risk to patient safety, we can restrict access to your records to ensure that the inaccurate or incomplete information is not used until amended.

If for any reason we have shared your information with anyone else, perhaps during a referral to another service for example, we will notify them of the changes required so that we can ensure their records are accurate.

If on consideration of your request NHS Lanarkshire does not consider the personal information to be inaccurate then we may add a comment to your record stating your concerns about the information. If this is case, we will contact you within one month to explain our reasons for this.

If you are unhappy about how NHS Lanarkshire has responded to your request for rectification, we will provide you with information on how you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, or how to take legal action.

The right to object

When NHS Lanarkshire is processing your personal information for the purpose of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority you have the right to object to the processing and also seek that further processing of your personal information is restricted. Provided NHS Lanarkshire can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing your personal information, for instance; patient safety or for evidence to support legal claims, your right will not be upheld.

Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling
NHS Lanarkshire do not currently make any decision based solely on automated processing or profiling.

Other rights

There are other rights under current Data Protection Law however these rights only apply in certain circumstances. For further information on these rights please visit http://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data-Protection-Notice-Other-Rights.pdf

The right to complain

NHS Lanarkshire employ a Data Protection Officer to check that we handle personal information in a way that meets data protection law. If you are unhappy with the way in which we use your personal information, please tell our Data Protection Officer using the contact details below:

Data Protection Officer
NHS Lanarkshire
Kirklands
Fallside Road
Bothwell
G71 8BB

Telephone: 01698 752992

Email: Dataprotectionenquiries@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

Please note emails from your private email address may not be secure.

You also have the right to complain about how we use your personal information to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Details about this are on their website at https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/how-to-make-a-data-protection-complaint/.

You also have the right to seek independent judicial remedy through the courts.

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