New ICO advice on handling Subject Access Requests

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have recently released a blog containing further advice for GPs and practices on the right of access for patients, commonly called Subject Access Requests (SARs). The blog is titled 'Why the right of access to patient data needn't be a headache for GPs'. It recognises that since May 2018 practices have been receiving an increasing number of SARs, particularly from third parties, eg solicitors and insurers. The blog offers practical advice and tips for practices in dealing with these requests. 

The new national GP Contract also recognises the pressure that the increase in SARs has had on general practice and a three-year annual Global Sum uplift of £20 million has been agreed to acknowledge the workload burden of SARs on practices. NHS England believes that the digitalisation of current Lloyd-George paper records will be completed in three years. Once it is completed, patients will then have online access to their electronic and digitalised records and will be able to directly access the relevant SARs information themselves.

Last updated : 17 Apr 2019

 

Covid-19 vaccination campaign – January update (27 Jan 2021)

Since our last newsletter there have been a number of developments with the Covid vaccination campaign, most notably: The approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, NHS England’s instruction to prioritise essential...
Read more »

Hesitancy around Covid vaccination (27 Jan 2021)

A poll carried out by the Royal Society for Public Health in December found that just 57% of respondents from black or ethnic minority backgrounds were likely to accept...
Read more »

Helping sessional GPs to match to practices in their area during the Covid-19 vaccination programme (06 Jan 2021)

During these difficult times we appreciate that general practice is under extreme workload pressures trying to meet numerous demands which they may be struggling to do so with existing staff...
Read more »

Integrated Care Systems legal structure proposals consultation (16 Dec 2020)

A new NHS England report seeking views on proposals to create a new legal structure for ICS was published recently, setting out plans to place ICS on a statutory footing...
Read more »

December 2020 workforce survey – thank you for responding (15 Dec 2020)

Our latest workforce survey officially closed on Monday 14 December, thank you to those who took the time to provide us with this valuable information, particularly at the moment when everyone working...
Read more »

New Covid-19 vaccination ES guidance (14 Dec 2020)

In the first two weeks of December 2020, we published three new documents to support practices who have signed-up to deliver the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme Enhanced Service (ES). Medicolegal matters...
Read more »
Next Page »
« Previous Page