Home › Service users and carers › Sharing your health records

Sharing your health records

All the information about the care and treatment we provide you is held on a care record. Your care record is stored electronically on a secure system. Healthcare staff will only use this information to make sure you get the right care and support you need. Staff will make sure this information stays confidential and is kept safe.

We want to make sure that whether you are visiting a GP, attending hospital, or being seen by a health professional in the community, that everyone knows the care you need and how you want to be treated. To help us all work together we want to share the information we have so they can continue to support you with the best care and treatment. We call this a ‘shared care record’.

This means everyone who provides your care will have the information they need, when they need it. We will all use the same information to make sure you get the best health and care services we can provide. This means:

  • You get the right treatment for your mental and physical health
  • Everyone has the same information they need to treat you
  • You do not have to repeat your story.

Your health record will only be shared with services that provide you with care or treatment, and on a need to know basis. You can ask that some of your information is made ‘private’. This means it will not be seen by others on your ‘shared care record’.

 

Consenting to share your care record

Anyone who uses our Trust services will be asked by the clinician or team supporting them if they consent to share their care record. The clinician or team will explain more about this, but you can also find out more by reading:

Please remember you can always talk to your healthcare professional at the Trust to find out more also.

 

Changes to sharing of health records due to coronavirus

During the coronavirus pandemic, it became even more important to share information across health and care organisations.

From 1 April 2020 to 1 April 2022, health and care professionals outside of the Trust were able to access your Trust health and care record if providing you with coronavirus-related care. This included GPs, hospital staff and community nurses.

This happened due to national changes in regulations, and you can find out more about these below:

We wrote to everyone who has used our services at the Trust about these changes. We also asked every person receiving a letter to read the information in the letter about consenting to share their health records, and send back the consent form included in the letter.

If you need any more information about this, or around how your data may have been shared, please talk to your health care worker at the Trust.

Page last updated on:

Search our site

Back to top