PHM is aimed at improving the physical and mental health outcomes and well-being of local and national populations, making sure that access to services is fair, timely, and equal. PHM is an approach being implemented across the NHS and this Practice.
Population Health Management requires health and social care to work together with communities and partner agencies, so your GP, hospital, other health or care providers, local Councils within NE London and the NHS NEL Integrated Care Board may send the information they hold on their systems to each other. All of these organisations are legally obliged to protect your information and maintain confidentiality in the same way that your GP or hospital provider is.
The information needed for PHM will include your health and social care data, which will be used in a pseudonymised form. This means, anything that can identify you (like your name or NHS Number) will be removed and replaced with a unique code so that the people working with the data will only see the code and cannot see which patient the information relates to.
The information sharing will be subject to robust security arrangements and risk assessments. It will then be used for a number of health and social care related activities such as:
- identifying groups of patients that could benefit from direct interventions
- improving the quality and standards of care provided
- research into the development of new treatments
- preventing illness and diseases
- monitoring safety
- planning services
Health Care Providers are permitted by data protection law to use information where it is “necessary for medical purposes”. This includes caring for you directly as well as management of health services more generally. The legal basis for sharing your information is Article 6(1)(e) and Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR – for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and for the provision of health or social care. Sharing and using your information in this way helps to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations.
You have the right to opt out of sharing your personal data being used in this way. You can do this in two ways:
- Opt out of all sharing of your data for other uses outside your GP Practice. This is called a Type 1 opt out and you should request this directly to us, your GP practice. This will be applied not only to this programme but to any others we take part in.
- By submitting a national Data Opt-out