Your information

You may be seen by a number of staff within the trust and may be transferred from one clinical service to another. The information you give to us will be available to all staff involved in your care.

We share relevant information so doctors, nurses and other health professionals working for other care providers can access your health records, including test results, details of allergies and information about any previous treatment. The linked information system for care providers in South East London is the London Care Record.

We will not give information about you to other organisations - such as housing departments, voluntary sector providers or education services - without your consent. However, there may be circumstances when either you or someone else might be at risk. In these circumstances, we have a legal obligation to share information with other organisations.

You have a right to see information we hold about you under General Data Protection Regulations. This is known as ‘right of subject access’ and you will need to complete a subject access request form, provide proof of identification and may be asked to explain what information you require.

Other people who need to see your medical records, can write to the Information Governance Office on your behalf, as long as they have written permission from you.

This includes a legal representative, such as a solicitor, or any person instructed by a court to support you if the court decides that you are unable to do some things by yourself, and you need help from someone else.

If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 16, you can ask to see their medical records. You will need to write to our Information Governance office and complete a Subject Access Request Form.

If your child is old enough to make a decision about this, you may not be able to see their records without their consent.

Requests can be made under the Access to Health Records Act (1990), by contacting the Information Governance Team. They can be made by the person's personal representative (the executor or administrator of the deceased person's estate) or any other person who may have a claim arising out of the patient's death.

Please note that only records directly relevant to a claim will be released.

You may not be able to see the records if they contain information that the person expected to remain confidential. In addition, the trust may refuse access if we believe that the information would cause serious harm to the mental or physical health of any other person.

It is very important that we have your correct details. If you change your name, address or telephone number, please tell your care co-ordinator so that we can update these details on your medical records.

If you are not happy about the way we handle your personal information and would like to make a complaint, you can speak to a member of staff in the Information Governance Office or make a formal complaint to our Complaints Department.

If you are still not pleased with the outcome, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner (the person responsible for regulating and enforcing the Data Protection Act). The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

For further information, you can visit their website at Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)