Respecting Confidentiality: Caldicott Principles and Data Protection Legislation

The Caldicott Principles:

To safeguard patient information, we follow the Caldicott Principles, which were recommended by the National Data Guardian, Dame Fiona Caldicott. These principles uphold confidentiality and security when using patient data. They should be applied whenever confidential information is involved and especially when sharing such information with other organisations.

1. Justify the purpose: Clearly state the need for the information.
2. Minimise personal data usage: Use identifiable information only if absolutely necessary.
3. Limit the use of personal data to the minimum required.
4. Restrict access to relevant personnel only.
5. Ensure staff understand their responsibilities and knowledge is upheld.
6. Comply with the law and legal obligations.
7. Acknowledge the importance of sharing information responsibly alongside protecting patient confidentiality.

Data Protection Legislation: We must also adhere to the Data Protection Act 2018 and its six General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles when handling personal and special categories of data. These principles are:

1. Process data fairly, lawfully, and transparently.
2. Collect data for specific, legitimate purposes.
3. Use adequate, relevant, and necessary data.
4. Ensure data accuracy and keep it up-to-date.
5. Retain data for no longer than necessary, while ensuring identification is possible.
6. Process data securely to protect personal information.

Key Rules for All Staff:

• Keep patients and staff informed about information usage.
• Strictly follow conditions for disclosing personal and special categories of data.
• Respect individuals’ rights, such as access, rectification, and erasure of their data.
• Anonymise or pseudonymise identifiable information whenever possible.
• Share personal data only with appropriate authority, safeguards, and agreements.
• Balance the duty of confidentiality and disclosure in the public interest when necessary.
• Maintain the highest level of security and confidentiality for personal data.
• Be able to provide evidence of compliance with data protection legislation.

By upholding these principles and rules, we ensure that patient information remains secure, confidentiality is respected, and we comply with the law, fostering a culture of trust and accountability at BrisDoc.