SIDeR – further information
Who can access my record?
Access is strictly controlled by the organisation the health and care professional is employed by. That organisation and NHS Somerset (previously known as Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)) vigorously audit usage.
Only authorised health and care professionals directly involved in supporting or providing your care can access your record.
Staff not involved in your care will not be able to access your record.
All staff are trained in data protection and maintaining the privacy of your information.
What is shared about me?
The shared information will typically include the kind of details that different health care professionals often share already through telephone calls, letters and faxes. SIDeR makes this information available in a secure, view-only, digital format.
The type of information includes:
- Medication and any changes to it made by a health and care professional
- Medical conditions
- Operations/treatment received
- Contact details for next-of-kin and others involved in care
- Tests that GPs or hospital clinicians have requested or carried out
- Appointments (past and planned) and recent visits to out-of-hours GPs and minor injury units.
Is my information secure?
By law, everyone working in, or on behalf of the NHS, hospice, adults’ and children’s social care must respect your privacy and keep all information about you safe. The system keeps a record of everyone who has accessed a patient record, the time and date when they accessed it and the information they were viewing. The laws on data protection (Data Protection Act 2018) are clear and we take them very seriously. Regular checks are made to make sure that only people who need to see your patient record are viewing it.
Your data will not be shared with anyone who is not providing you with treatment, care or support, or authorised persons involved in the management of the system. This means that your data will not be made public or passed on to any third party not directly involved in your care.
All current legislation and guidance on confidentiality, including the Data Protection Act, has been met, and all organisations sharing or viewing your data have signed a detailed information sharing agreement.
Under the Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation, you are able to ask to see any information held about you. If you wish to see the information held about you please contact the organisation who is providing your care or the Somerset CCG Privacy Officer.
Where is my data stored?
Your information is currently stored on many different health, hospice and social care information systems owned by each of the NHS, hospice and local authority organisations participating in SIDeR.
These records are shared securely using an encrypted connection and are not retained in SIDeR.
What if I don’t want to share my information?
You can object to sharing your information electronically using SIDeR; you will need to write to each of the organisations you are being treated by and request your information is not to be shared via SIDeR. However, this may result in delayed or sub-optimal care, particularly if you are incapacitated.
Making key parts of your information available to health and care professionals in Somerset will help ensure you receive the best possible care.
More details about your information rights can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
What happens if I object?
If I decide to object, how will this affect the treatment I receive?
While you are within your rights to object to sharing your information through SIDeR, it is important that you understand the implications of this.
GPs, hospitals, community health, mental health, hospice and social care teams all hold important information about patients but it is often not available to people working in other parts of your local NHS and care community.
This is because different parts of the system are using specialised but currently unlinked systems so important information in one part of the NHS may not be readily available to people treating you in another.
Doctors, nurses and other people providing care will base their treatment on the information they have about you – often relying on referral information from other health and care professionals.
They need this information to make sure you receive the best and most appropriate care, but if more details are required, you might have to repeat answers you have already given to someone else, fill out more forms or even undergo tests that have already been carried out at an earlier stage of your treatment.
It could also mean delays if, for example, a hospital consultant has to contact your GP surgery to confirm details – this is often carried out by email or telephone.
SIDeR makes key parts of your health and care records available whenever and wherever they are needed to staff that are directly involved in caring for you.
Remember, the details they can access are already being shared – SIDeR is using secure digital technology to give authorised, qualified and regulated health and care professionals better access.