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The Notts Care Record

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
for Patients & Service Users

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below provide a detailed overview into the Notts Care Record, addressing common queries for patients and service users. It covers the system’s benefits, data security, access protocols, and its role in improving coordinated care for people across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Patients & Service Users:

What is the Notts Care Record, and how does it affect my health and care experience?

The Notts Care Record is a digital system that consolidates your health and care information from different partner organisations into one secure and easily accessible record. It enhances our health and social care provision by enabling your care providers to have an up-to-date view of your medical history, leading to better-informed decisions and more coordinated care.



Who can access my record?

Only health or care staff involved in the delivery of direct care have access to the Notts Care Record. Patients and service users will not have access to the Notts Care Record and would need to request any access to their data from the partner(s) where the data originated. The information in the Notts Care Record will not be used for any other purpose, or shared with any third parties not involved in providing direct care, treatment, or support. Your information will be used solely for the provision of your health or social care. 

Why do we share your information?

The Notts Care Record facilitates the secure sharing of relevant information among health and care partners involved in your care. This enables health and care staff to access the most up-to-date and comprehensive information about you. This information is already shared between professionals: the Notts Care Record has been designed to share direct care information more quickly and securely, saving time and reducing the need for you to repeat the same information to different health and care professionals supporting you.
 
Data Protection legislation supports the sharing of personal information between organisations involved in the delivery of Health and Social Care. It allows practitioners to access this information where there is a legitimate relationship with the individual for the purposes of the individual’s direct care. Sharing data appropriately and safely across organisational boundaries is key to improving the quality and safety of care across Health and Social Care services. More information on sharing confidential data in health and care settings is available from NHS England.

What are the benefits of the Notts Care Record?

  • Access to the most up-to-date information for health and care staff to make informed decisions about your care.
  • Improved coordination of care, particularly beneficial for patients with long-term conditions, as care teams from different organisations can collaborate more effectively.
  • Your health and care teams have timely access to your information, reducing delays or duplicated tests across various care settings.
  • More time dedicated to caring for you instead of time spent collecting information from multiple organisations involved in your care.
  • Less need to retell your medical history to numerous health and care professionals.
  • Enhanced collaboration between health and social care staff, benefiting anyone receiving care from multiple system partners.

What information will be shared?

The information held in the Notts Care Record is only used to enable direct care. This means it is only available to frontline practitioners. The information available to practitioners is brought in directly from source systems of Health and Social Care partners, covering Primary Care, Acute Care, Mental Health, Social Care and Community Healthcare. The data set includes:

  • Name, address and contact details for seamless communication and coordination.
  • NHS Number, in order to link your records together
  • Information on current and past medical issues to equip health and care staff with helpful insights to inform decision-making and personalised treatment.
  • Medication details to ensure thorough understanding by health and care professionals when considering new prescriptions, promoting medication safety.
  • Allergy information to safeguard against potential adverse reactions by ensuring medication compatibility.
  • Test results to minimise duplication and speed-up treatment processes.
  • Letters, referrals, and discharge information to provide your team with important context and facilitate continuity of care.
  • Hospital admission and appointment details for easier integration  and collaboration among care partners.
  • Referrals, assessments and existing services to build a picture of your current care and support.
  • Alerts containing vital notifications to support your safety and wellbeing.

Will I be informed when my health or care provider accesses my record?

Under current data protection legislation, health and care staff do not need to inform you directly when accessing your record for direct care purposes. You  can find out more on NHS England’s guide to Sharing information for direct care.

However, we do have a responsibility to be transparent about how your data is used. Posters and leaflets will publicise the Notts Care Record in public-facing areas across our Integrated Care System, and this website will be kept up-to-date with information on participating care providers and answers to common questions. 

The information in the Notts Care Record is already shared between professionals, usually over the telephone or manually provided, for example through referral forms. The Notts Care Record streamlines our data sharing and equips our frontline professionals with a core data set, agreed by each organisation, which can be viewed wherever you are receiving care in our Integrated Care System.

You do have a right to object to your data being made available for viewing. After any risks of not sharing your information have been explained, you can opt out of the Notts Care Record. If you want to discuss the benefits and mechanisms of data sharing, or  wish for none of your data to be shared with any of your health or care teams you can contact the Notts Care Record team by emailing sfh-tr.NottsCareRecordIGTeam@nhs.net. 

How secure is my information?

Rest assured, your privacy and data security are paramount. 

By law, all health and care staff are bound by a duty of confidentiality, which means they must respect your privacy and maintain the confidentiality of your information. Access to your information is logged for privacy protection, and rigorous security measures are in place to ensure your information remains confidential and secure at all times, in compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Additionally, our suppliers test the software behind theNotts Care Record against a wide range of security and data governance standards, including:

Will all my health and care provider organisations have access to my Notts Care Record, including my GP, specialists, and emergency services?

The Notts Care Record is designed to be accessible to all authorised health and care partner organisations involved in your care, ensuring a comprehensive and coordinated approach to your health needs. However, this may not not all happen at once, as partners will implement Notts Care Record at different stages during the rollout. Over time, the data in the Notts Care Record will also be shared with other authorised partners, making your information available in their local shared care records. This includes other Integrated Care Systems, in instances where you are seeking or receiving care outside of Nottinghamshire, as well as partners who work across a wider geographic footprint, such as Ambulance services.

Can I control who has access to my Notts Care Record and what information they can see?

No. The information within the Notts Care Record is a collation of the health and care data our providers have chosen to share with their partners in other organisations. The data is mastered in their primary systems, and the Notts Care Record makes this shared data set available to the health and care professionals looking after you at the point of care. 

You do have a right to object to your data being made available for viewing. After any risks of not sharing your information have been explained, you can opt out of the Notts Care Record. If you want to discuss the benefits and mechanisms of data sharing, or wish for none of your data to be shared with any of your health or care teams, you can contact the Notts Care Record team by emailing sfh-tr.NottsCareRecordIGTeam@nhs.net.

Updated June 2024