Our pharmacists and their staff are members of your local healthcare team.
They aim to provide you with the highest quality of healthcare. To do this they need to keep records about you, your health, and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.
We know that you value your privacy and the security of personal information held about you.
Information Recorded
Information recorded may include:
basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, next of kin;
records of medicines you have been prescribed by your doctor or another qualified prescriber, and which have been supplied by this pharmacy;
details of medicines purchased from the pharmacy without a prescription (“over the counter medicines”);
other details and notes about your health and medical treatment;
information relevant to your continued care from other people who care for you and know you well, such as other health professionals and relatives.
As part of providing a professional, safe and efficient service, there is certain information that we record. This includes details of drugs and appliances dispensed against NHS prescriptions as well as significant advice given and referrals made to other health professionals. This information won’t be shared with anyone else except under the circumstances described in ‘Sharing Information’.
Sharing Information
The information held about you will not be shared for any reason, unless:
you ask us to do so;
we ask and you give us specific permission;
we are required by law, for example prescribers must be notified where a patient presents a repeat prescription and the pharmacist becomes aware of clinically significant issues arising in connection with that prescription;
we are permitted by law, for example where public interest overrides the need to keep the information confidential.
The types of people we may ask you for permission to share information with include your doctors (GP and hospital) and other health professionals such as nurses.
Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to keep this information confidential, subject to recognised exceptions of the types listed above.
Your Rights
You have the right to confidentiality under the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidence (the Disability Discrimination and the Race Relations Acts may also apply).
We also comply with the NHS Code of Practice on Confidentiality and pharmacists have a requirement under their professional Code of Ethics to keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate.
All of our staff contracts of employment contain a requirement to keep patient information confidential.
Our guiding principle is that we hold your records in strict confidence.
Your right to view your health record
You have the right to ask for a copy of all pharmacy records about you.
There may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you. Your request must be made in writing to the pharmacy holding your information. We are required to respond to your request within 40 days.
You will need to give adequate information in order for pharmacy staff to identify you (for example, full name, address and date of birth). You will be required to provide ID, for example, a passport, full driving license or credit/debit card before any information is released to you.
If you think any information we hold on you is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know.