Patient records


’Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare Trust takes your confidentiality and privacy rights very seriously.

This notice explains how we process your personal information and forms part of our accountability and transparency to you under the UK Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and any subsequent UK legislation.

Our Caldicott Guardian (a senior manager who ensures patient information is processed appropriately) is Dr William Oldfield.

Our Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) is Yarlini Roberts

Our Data Protection Officer is Madeleine Escott.

To contact any staff mentioned above or the information governance team, please use the information below.

Telephone: 020 8973 3110

Email: hrch.informationgovernance@nhs.net

Address: 

Thames House
180 High Street
Teddington
TW11 8HU

 

We make every effort to handle all information in a way that respects your rights and meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations and subsequent UK legislation

The right to be informed:you have the right to know why and how your personal data is being processed. All the information you need to know can be found on this page and throughout this website

The right of accessUnder current data protection law, you have the right to ask us for a copy of all the information we hold about you. This is called a subject access request. Please see below for more information. Once we have all the relevant information we will provide your records within one month. A copy of the requested information will be provided individual free of charge unless the request is what the law calls ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’, in particular if it is repetitive. In some cases, information may be withheld but we will discuss this with you.

The right to rectificationYou have the right to have your information corrected if you believe it is factually inaccurate – this is known as the right to rectification.

The right to erasureThe right to erasure is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’. In certain circumstances, it allows you to instruct organisations to delete or remove personal data. When we receive a request for the deletion or removal of personal data, we will consider the grounds for the request and decide whether to comply or whether we can legally refuse in order for us to provide our healthcare service

The right to restriction of processing:  In certain circumstances, you have a right to stop us processing your personal data. Where this right applies (e.g. if the individual contests the accuracy of the data or the processing is unlawful), we are still allowed to store the personal data but must not use it for any other purposes unless certain conditions apply. In most cases the restriction will not be in place forever, but for a limited time; for example while you consider the accuracy of the data or review whether you have legitimate grounds to override the objection.

The right to data portability:  This is a new right that lets you get hold of and re-use their personal data for your own benefit across different services. It applies:  to personal data you have given us, and when we are processing that data on the basis of consent or for the performance of a contract and when the data is being processed by automated means.

The right to objectyou have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for several reasons.

Please contact the Information governance team at hrch.informationgovernance@nhs.netfor more details or to make a request.     

We have a duty to support and care for those most in need. To do this, we must hold records about you, your personal circumstance and the services/care you are receiving or may need to receive in the future. As well as basic contact information for carers.

This information will be held securely on an electronic record.

The record may include:

  • basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, postcode, contact phone numbers and emails, gender, first language, next of kin, carer, NHS number, ethnic group; in some cases, this might include marital status and sexual orientation
  • current and past contacts we have had with you
  • notes and reports about your health and social care and any treatment, care or support you need
  • details and records about the services or care you receive and who is providing them
  • results of your tests and diagnosis
  • relevant information from other professionals, relatives or those who care for you or know you well
  • any contacts you have with us such as home visits or outpatient appointments
  • information on medicines, side effects and allergies
  • patient experience feedback and treatment outcome information, you have provided
  • photos or videos you have consented to be taken

Please note that this is not a full list of the types of information we hold or handle.

At the Trust, all of your records are electronic and are held on a computer system or a secure IT network. New ways of providing joined up services are being implemented, with closer working with local health and social care partners. To assist this, the use of other electronic patient record systems to share your information has been implemented. Please see the privacy notices for more detail.

You will be given the opportunity to object to this data sharing as part of your provision of care. To do this, please speak to the team providing your treatment.

The information that we keep is used to ensure that we can:

  • contact you
  • make informed decisions about your treatment and care
  • plan your service and support
  • refer on to another service if required
  • investigate any concerns or complaints about your service
  • review the care we provide to ensure it is effective
  • work effectively with others who also provide you with care – i.e. your GP, other health providers, social care, or other providers of care
  • monitor people receiving a service and the funding for that service
  • carry out research in order to improve services and ensure they meet people’s needs
  • produce statistics for central government and local planning (This information is used anonymously).

We will process your personal information fairly and lawfully by only using it if we have a lawful reason and when we do, we make sure you know how we intend to use it and tell you about your rights;

We do not rely on consent to use your information for a health care purpose as a ‘legal basis for processing’.  We rely on specific provisions under Article 6 and 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation, such as ‘…a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller or the provision of health treatment.’ 

This means we can use your personal information to provide you with your health care without seeking your consent.  However, you do have the right to say ‘NO’ to our use of your information but this could have an impact on our ability to provide you with care.

We will not share your data for a purpose outside of your healthcare without your consent. 

Although we will not rely on your consent to share information for your healthcare purpose, we will follow good practice laid down by common law duty of confidence with regards to informing you of what we do with your information, this is called implied consent.

Any use of personal information for non-direct care purposes without a lawful basis  or consent will be considered as a breach of GDPR and subsequent data protection legislation and/or common law duty of confidence.

Your information will be safe and treated with the utmost respect.  If we ask you for personal information we promise to:

  • make sure you know why we need it
  • ask only for what we need and not collect too much or irrelevant information in order for us to carry out the various tasks within the delivery of your care
  • have secure processes in place to keep your personal information safe when it is being used, shared, and when it is being stored to protect it and make sure it is only available to authorised members of staff
  • only collecting and using your information to provide you with your care and treatment and will not use it for anything else
  • if the data is to be used for another purpose (not health or social care) we will get your consent to share it with other organisations and give you the chance to refuse permission
  • not make your personal information available for commercial use
  • consider your request if you ask us to stop holding and processing data about you
  • notify you if your data is disclosed inappropriately
  • only hold your information for as long as is necessary for your care. This time period is set out and agreed following national guidance. Please ask us for more information. 

In return we ask you to:

  • give us accurate information
  • tell us as soon as possible if there are any changes to your personal circumstances such as your address. This helps us to keep your information reliable and up to date.

It is good practice for those providing your care to:

  • discuss and agree with you what they intend to record about you
  • give you a copy of letters and other documents they write about you
  • show you what they have recorded about you
  • let you know what they have told others about you and who those others are

Only individuals who are those involved in providing your care will have access to your records. This will include staff from a number of other organisations (as listed below). We will share only the relevant and appropriate information to enable us to provide your care. Everyone involved in the provision of service has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential and secure.

We share your data with other professionals in order to provide the most appropriate treatment and support for you, and your carers, or when the welfare of other people is involved.

Examples of who we share personal information with:

  • ambulance services
  • external care providers
  • social care
  • GPs
  • hospitals and other health partners
  • housing organisations
  • police
  • voluntary organisations

The information from your patient record will only be used for purposes that benefit your care - we would never share it for marketing or insurance purposes. Please see the privacy statements (tab at the top of the page) for information on specific data sharing.

You have the right to object to information sharing at any time. Please discuss this with your relevant care professional as this could have implications in how you receive further care, including delays in you receiving care.

However, a person’s right to object is not absolute and there may be other circumstances when we must share information from your patient record with other agencies.  Examples of this are:

  • if there is a concern that you are putting yourself at risk of serious harm
  • if there is concern that you are putting another person at risk of serious harm
  • if there is concern that you are putting a child at risk of harm
  • if we have been instructed to do so by a Court
  • if the information is essential for the investigation of a serious crime
  • if you are subject to the Mental Health Act (1983), there are circumstances in which your ‘nearest relative’ must receive information even if you object
  • if your information falls within a category that needs to be notified for public health or other legal reasons, such as certain infectious disease

NHS England assess the effectiveness of the care provided by publicly funded services, therefore. we have to share information from your patient record such as referrals, assessments, diagnoses, activities (e.g. taking a blood pressure test) and in some cases, your answers to questionnaires on a regular basis to meet our NHS contract obligations. This information will be anonymised.

If you would like to opt out of sharing your information for research and planning, please see the link below.

More about opting out of sharing your data with NHS Digital

 

We manage, maintain and protect all information according to legislation, our policies and best practices. We have security measures in place to maintain and safeguard the confidentiality, reliability and availability of our systems and data.

All information is stored, processed and communicated in a secure manner and made available only to authorised members of staff on a need to know basis. Only the minimum amount of information required will be shared.

The trust is registered with the information commissioner’s office, registration number: Z2593470

All the IT systems used by the trust are implemented with robust information security safeguards to protect your personal information.

The trust is accredited to Cyber Essentials standard and meets the requirements of the mandatory data security and protection toolkit

We hold your records in line with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2021.

This code is relevant to organisations working within, or under contract to, the NHS in England. The Code also applies to adult social care and public health functions commissioned or delivered by local authorities.

Records Management Code of Practice 2021

To help us monitor our performance, evaluate and develop the services we provide, it is necessary to review and share minimal information, for example with the NHS Integrated Care Systems (ICS) for both North West London and South West London . The information we share would be anonymous so you cannot be identified and all access to and use of this information is strictly controlled.  

In order to ensure that we have accurate and up-to-date patient records, we carry out a programme of clinical audits. Access to your patient records for this purpose is monitored and only anonymous information is used in any reports that are shared internally with in our Trust.

If you would like to opt out of sharing your information for research and planning, please see the link below.

More about opting out of sharing your data with NHS Digital

The trust actively promotes research with a view to improving future care. Researchers can improve how physical and mental health can be treated and prevented. If we use your patient information for research, we remove your name and all other personal data which would identify you. If we need the information in a form that would personally identify you, we will ask for your permission first.

For further details about how we use your information for research, please refer to the Health Research Authority website.

Please see the Trust Research page for details about our current projects.

If you would like to opt out of sharing your information for research and planning, please see the link below.

More about opting out of sharing your data with NHS Digital

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt-out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

The national data opt-out allows you to choose if you do not want your confidential patient information to be used for purposes beyond individual care and treatment.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters.

On this web page you will:

  • See what is meant by confidential patient information

  • Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care

  • Find out more about the benefits of sharing data

  • Understand more about who uses the data

  • Find out how your data is protected

  • Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting

  • Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone

  • See the situations where the opt-out will not apply

You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:
hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients (health and care research)

understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service:

Free phone: 0800 953 0363

Email: pals.hrch@nhs.net  

Post: If you have any queries about local health services, or you would like to make a complaint, you can write to us at:

Patient Experience Team
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Thames House
Teddington
TW11 8HU

Information Commissioners Office:

To get further advice or report a concern directly to the UK’s independent authority you can do this by making contacting with:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane 
Wilmslow                                                                                                                                                     
Cheshire
SK9 5AF 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Web: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling

You have a right to see the information we hold about you, both on paper or electronic, except for information that: 

  • Has been provided about you by someone else if they haven’t given permission for you to see it

  • Relates to criminal offences

  • Is being used to detect or prevent crime

  • Could cause physical or mental harm to you or someone else

Your request must be made in writing and we will request proof of identity before we can disclose personal information. You can find out more about accessing your information by referring to our website below:

Please complete this form and return it to the address provided. If you have any questions please contact the Information Governance team: hrch.informationgovernance@nhs.net

 Please note: You will need to provide adequate proof of identification

You should let us know if you disagree with something written on your file. You may not always be able to change or remove the information. However, we will correct factual inaccuracies and may include your comments in the records.

If you wish to access information about a deceased person who has been under the care of the Trust, please use the subject access process as above.  Your application will be processed under the Access to health records 1990.  GDPR and any subsequent data protection legislation only applies to living individuals.

To help us find and retrieve information for you, please state exactly what information you require, and provide the following details of the deceased:

Name, date of birth, date of death and last known address of deceased

This information is necessary to help us confirm if we hold records relating to the deceased and locate them for you.

Before we are able to release records about a deceased person, we will need:

  • confirmation that the individual is in fact deceased, such as grant of probate or death certificate.
  • proof of entitlement – one of the following:

            - grant of probate and certified copy of the last will & testament or

            - letters of administration – if the deceased died intestate

We need to identify that you are the personal representative of the deceased person or that you have a claim arising out of the patient’s death, to ensure that you are entitled to information about them. Please note that the rights of access to information passes to the personal representative on death.

Please also supply us with one form of identification for yourself, showing your name and current address. Acceptable examples of identification are drivers licence or passport.

If your request is through a solicitor who is acting for you, then we require a signed authority from them.

The trust is working with Accurx Software to provide a number of extra communication pathways such as text messaging and appointment booking. Accurx is a separate application which links to our patient database (TPP SystmOne).

Accurx Software privacy notice

HRCH is providing access to a new web-based cardiac rehabilitation programme to support patient recovery.  The programme is called Activate your Heart and is provided by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Dementia UK Admiral Nurse will be collaborating with Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) to provide part of the provision of service within the Richmond Dementia Team. 

Admiral Nurses privacy notice

Hounslow & Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) NHS Trust has been asked to offer COVID antibody testing to staff working in the Adult Social care and Residential Care Homes in Richmond. 

Antibody testing leaflet

We do not carry out automated decision making but will work with partner organisations to endeavour to identify people who may benefit from additional services (profiling) for example those who attend our urgent treatment centres  frequently. Appropriate staff, for example clinicians, would make the actual decisions based on the available information.

The Trust is working with Bank Partners to centralise the management of the bank (temporary) workers function. This improve the fill rates and bring the Trust in line with the current process at Kingston Hospital Foundation trust, as part of the Better Together Partnership. This will include the recruitment and onboarding of new Bank workers as well as the booking of new and existing bank workers.

All key recruitment data will be shared between HRCH and Bank Partners. For more information please see the full notice below

HRCH and bank partners privacy notice

Working Better Together

As part of the partnership agreement between Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation trust, staff will be working across both organisations.

However, your personal data (patient and staff) will only be shared between the two trusts, if the correct data protection framework has been put in place.  This means that the Data Protection Officers for both trusts will work with teams to review any change in process as part of a Data Protection Impact Assessment, which identifies and addresses any risks. A full Purpose Specific Information Sharing Agreement will be drafted to ensure data is being processed in line with current Data Protection legislation.

For any questions on data protection in either Trust please refer to the following pages on Trust’s website.

HRCH Patients records information

KHFT Privacy notice

This programme provides families with products, resources and information that support the home learning environment and children’s development.

HRCH will share key personal information with Save the Children to be able to provide this service but only with your explicit consent.

As part of the Hounslow Integrated Health and Wellbeing service, HRCH, sub-contracting to Feltham and Bedfont Primary Care Network (FaB PCN), are provide a community outreach programme for CVD.

For more information on how we process your data, please refer to the document below.

CVD privacy notice

The trust has joined the national Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway. The aim of the programme is to make the assessment of a child's musculoskeletal system (bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints) more consistent, so a child can be examined the same way no matter who sees them or where they live in the country.

Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway privacy statement

ChatHealth is a safe and secure messaging platform which helps healthcare service users get confidential help and advice from healthcare professionals.

HRCH uses ChatHealth messaging to offer the opportunity for you to ask for help and advice anonymously, without giving your name. Your conversation is also confidential.

Except in some exceptional circumstances, HRCH will not normally inform anyone that you have been in touch or tell them what you have been speaking about.

Staff at HRCH work with partner organisation, Achieving for Children, to provide a multi-disciplinary team meeting within a child development setting.

More detail on the information processing within the setting

HRCH is part of the Child Health Information Service, which liaises across care settings, agencies and regions to ensure that children and young people, in their local population receive all the care and services that they are entitled to. HRCH provides data to both the South West and the North West London hubs.

Find out more about how we process your data

The impact of the Covid-19 response has adversely impacted the lives of many vulnerable children and especially those who are looked after and those on child protection orders.

NHS England has identified that there are further clinical settings that are unaware of children being on protection orders, and therefore safeguarding opportunities could potentially be missed.

Therefore, NHS England are making changes to the personal data, which is included in the  CP-IS data via the Summary Care Record application (SCRa). 

The health and care professionals who look after you keep their own records in different specialist systems that contain details of any treatment or care you have received or are receiving from them.

These records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and a combination of working practices and technology ensure your information is kept confidential and secure.

Connecting your Care provides health and care professionals within SW London with a 'secure' electronic summary view of the information that organisations want to share about you.

This provides the people looking after you with  important information from other services that you use, so that they can quickly assess you and make the best decision or plans about your care. 

You can find out more about the organisations within South West London that are part of Connecting your Care on our website, along with the answers to some frequently asked questions at: www.swlondon.nhs.uk/connectingyourcare

This does not apply to patients based outside of South West London 

The Department of Health & Social Care mandates all NHS Trusts to undertake clinical audits on care delivered to patients. The audits can be undertaken by clinical staff employed by us or by external audit companies. 

This could involve individuals who have not been involved with your direct care accessing your medical records.

We have an annual clinical audit programme which requires clinical staff to participate. Clinical staff consider patient medical records to review the care provided, and to identify ways in which the care could be improved in the future

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust need to be able to share individuals details with the lead providers to ensure all individuals are given the chance to receive their vaccination in line with the national requirements. We must also record the details of the vaccination and share that information with your GP, so that your health records are kept up to date. See the privacy notice below for more information.

Privacy notice: Covid-19 vaccine for non NHS / social care staff

HRCH is joining the Northwest London Data Discovery Service (DDS). The DDS uses a publish and subscribe model.

Publishers are health provider organisations (like HRCH) who control their data and agree to publish their data in a way that can be accessed by many subscribers. Only systems can interact with the data service; users do not directly interact with the service. Subscribers are health care organisations who express an interest in accessing a subset of data for a particular purpose. 

Data Discovery Service privacy notice
 

The trust will be contacting named community pharmacies in the borough on behalf of patients to ensure that their medicines care and follow up is managed once they are discharged from our clinical services.

This is known as the discharge medicines service. This is to enable community pharmacies fulfil the National essential service contract from NHS England.

Information on how we process your personal information as part of this service

HRCH provides an electronic prescription service. This means that you can nominate your pharmacy to receive your prescription.

More information about electronic prescriptions

The trust is working in partnership with Hounslow GPs as part of the primary care networks (PCNs). A variety of health professionals, such as Physiotherapists, Pharmacist and Paramedics are working within the practices to provide a direct patient healthcare service.

More information on how we process your personal information  

MSK services are working with a third party provider – Healthshare to provide physiotherapy services.  We are using an external provider due to the number of cases waiting following the Covid 19 pandemic.

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare Trust in partnership with BOC Healthcare and West London NHS Trust  have set up a Post Covid Syndrome MDT to support continued recovery in the community.

NHS England guidance suggests that for many of those who have survived covid-19, the virus and the required treatments will have a lasting impact on their health.

Some of the main clinical issues identified to date include:

  • Respiratory (desaturation/breathlessness management)
  • Fatigue
  • Anxiety/Stress/Low mood
  • Cognition issues
  • MSK post critical care rehabilitation

A twice weekly virtual MDT has been set up with Community Recovery Service (CRS).

More information on how patient data is used within the services

Different organisations in Hounslow are working together to provide an Enhanced Dementia Care Service. This includes Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) NHS Trust, London Borough of Hounslow and Hestia. 

By working together, we aim to coordinate care and give support to older people living with dementia and their carers.  We share a common goal to collaborate with clients and carers, to provide the right care for your specific needs.  If you are living with dementia, this new service will help ensure you receive the appropriate health and social care support to maximise your independence and wellbeing.

This service will co-ordinate with other care providers, hospitals, community mental health teams, charities and community health services. The service is staffed by a clinical nurse and dementia co-ordinators from a range of backgrounds. You will have a named co-ordinator who will provide information, advice and support to you and your family. 

Enhanced Dementia Care privacy notice

The MASH is made up of many different partners, HRCH is one of them. The purpose of MASH is to improve the quality of information sharing between professionals to make timely and informed decision about risk on accurate and up to date information.

HRCH are working with IQVIA to provide patient level information and costing system to NHS Improvement as part of a mandatory data collection.

IQVIA privacy notice

HRCH are using JotForm as a tool to create online forms. This helps us gather important information to help us perform our duties as a public body. These forms are used for patient and staff questionnaires.

More information on how we process personal data on JotForm

The Hounslow Diabetes team in HRCH, will be working with partners across Northwest London as part of the Know Diabetes programme.

 

Know Diabetes privacy statement

The NCMP was established in 2006 and involves measuring the height and weight of Reception and Year 6 children. For further information on the programme and how we process personal data, please see the information below,

National Counter Fraud Initiative is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud. The following link will take you to the Privacy Notice of the National Counter Fraud Initiative which details the information which we may share and the legal basis for this.

The NHS app is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.

Use the NHS app to:

  • check your symptoms

  • find out what to do when you need help urgently

  • book and manage appointments at your GP surgery

  • order repeat prescriptions

  • securely view your GP medical record

  • register to be an organ donor

  • choose how the NHS uses your data

The NHS app is being gradually rolled out across England now. You can check if your GP surgery is connected when you open the app for the first time. If it isn’t, you can register your email address and NHS Digital will notify you when they go live.

Alternatively, you can check the list of surgeries that are already connected using the link below. If your surgery isn’t connected you can still download the app and use it to check your symptoms and find out what to do when you need help urgently.

Find out more about the NHS app

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) NHS Trust are actively using the NHS Covid 19 app.  

This app is managed by NHS Digital and more information on your data and privacy can be found on the NHS website:

https://covid19.nhs.uk/privacy-and-data/data-for-contact-tracing.html  

When you visit a HRCH location, we will have QR code posters at the locations for you to ‘check in’. QR codes are a special type of barcode which can be read by a smartphone.

HRCH uses the NHSmail Live Service to create, store and send data through NHSmail.

This processing could be through: 

  • Email (Exchange / Outlook)

  • Instant Messaging, Voice, Video or Screen Sharing (Skype for Business). 

  • Office 365 services (SharePoint, OneDrive, Team, etc.)

  • Exchange and Skype for Business data is stored by Accenture within the UK. 

Office 365 data is stored by Microsoft, depending on the specific service this may either be within the UK, EU or outside the EU. For further information see Microsoft’s privacy information.

The NHSmail Live Service deploys highly sophisticated SPAM and Malware filtering technologies to block SPAM, Viruses and Malware.

HRCH processes data with NHSmail under:

  1. Article 9 (2) (h) – processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine.

  2. Lawful processing by Controller (Article 6 b and e);(b) as part of their employment contract it is necessary for their job(e) as the mail system is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller (Public Task)

NHS providers are mandated by NHS England to offer the opportunity to leave quick anonymous feedback regarding your experience with HRCH services. HRCH is achieving this via the online platform provided by Civica. For more information, please see the document below.

Patient Experience Surveys

Physitrack software is used to provide patients with tailored exercise programmes for three trust therapy services (Children’s therapy at Richmond and Hounslow & Richmond CNRT adults ).

Note: HRCH will be moving from Physiotools to Physitrack. All existing information on Physiotools will be deleted.

Rehab My Patient Exercise Programme Software is used to provide patients with tailored exercise programmes for Adult MSK services in Richmond. 

Kingston Hospital Foundation Trust, Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare, and Richmond Wellbeing Service are collaborating to provide a holistic service to support people that are experiencing Long Covid, whether they were admitted to hospital or self-managed in the community during the acute stage of Covid-19.

NHS England and NICE guidance (2020) suggests that for many of those who are experiencing Long Covid, the virus and the required treatments could have a lasting impact on their health.

Some of the main clinical issues identified to date include:

  • Respiratory (desaturation/breathlessness management)
  • Fatigue
  • Anxiety/Stress/Low mood
  • Cognition issues
  • MSK post critical care rehabilitation

The MDT includes Kingston Hospital Post Covid Assessment Service therapists, Consultants, Richmond and Kingston Community Long Covid service therapists, and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, and GPs.

More information on how patient data is used within this team

Across the country, the Discharge to Assess model has been implemented since March 2020. The intention of discharge to assess has been to reduce unnecessary time spent in hospital for people who are medically optimised for discharge, and support more people to be discharged to their home.

 

Through embedding this model, improvements in the following performance areas are expected to be achieved:

  • Reductions in the length of stay for people in acute hospital care.
  • Reductions in length of stay for people in community inpatient rehab care.
  • Improvements in people’s outcomes following a period of rehabilitation and recovery.
  • Minimisation of the need for long-term care at the end of a person’s rehabilitation.

To be able to achieve the above aims, high level coordination and collaboration across all services involved in a person’s care must occur. This needs to happen from the moment a person is admitted to hospital and continue during and following discharge.  

The initial members of the Transfer of Care Hub will be representatives from:

  • Kingston Hospital Discharge Team
  • Kingston Social Services
  • Richmond Social Services
  • Hounslow and Richmond Community Health Care NHS Trust (HRCH)
  • Your Healthcare - Integrated Recovery/Home First Team.

The service will be overseen by the Single System Coordinator (employed by HRCH).

For more information, please see the document below.

Transfer of Care Hub privacy notice

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to take steps to protect the public from disease. This includes providing vaccination services. This specific responsibility is fulfilled by NHS England, which works with NHS Trusts and Local Authorities to vaccinate children in schools. The official authority for the vaccination for school children is provided by the Health & Social Care Act 2012.

Lifesaving vaccinations are offered under a public health agenda, and we are contractually obliged by NHS England to deliver such vaccines and are commissioned to do so as part of the NHS Public Health Functions Agreement, under s.7A of the NHS Act 2006. As a Provider, we must offer the service to 100% of eligible school-aged children and young people. We provide the following vaccinations:

  • Inhaled/injectable flu – All primary school children – September – December
  • Meningitis ACWY/Diphtheria/Tetanus and Polio & MMR catch ups – year 9 – January – April
  • HPV 1st dose year 8 and 2nd dose year 9. From September 2023, HPV is being reduced to 1 vaccination in year 8
  • Polio and MMR as part of a London wide campaign to ensure under and unvaccinated children have an opportunity to catchup with their vaccinations.
  • We also offer catch up sessions in school and community clinics throughout the year.

For information on how we process personal data as part of the service, please see the notice below

When you use our website or interact with our social media presence (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) your data (e.g. comments, likes, reviews) may be visible to providers of social networking services and their users.

We suggest that you review the privacy and security settings of your social media accounts to ensure you understand how your data may be shared and used.

HRCH works with local health and social care providers such as clinical commissioning groups, local social services and hospital trusts to process data for ‘ secondary use’. 

This is when we use data outside of the normal direct health care provision. For more information on this use, please see below:

HRCH will be providing the flu vaccination for all staff. The sharing of this information is necessary to enable the coordinated and effective roll-out of this programme. See below for more information.

Staff flu vaccine privacy notice

The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) is a screening tool for emotional, behavioural and mental health wellbeing of children and young people in care, aged 4 to 16 years.

In the trust we work with Achieving for Children to use an online SDQ. The questionnaires are shared securely with parents/carers and teachers before the health assessment and personal education plan (PEP) meetings. They do not contain any personal information. 

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) are using an online booking system via Swiftqueue for a number of clinics. This includes:

  • Hounslow Paediatric Phlebotomy clinics
  • Polio vaccination
  • Covid vaccination

More information

The Trust is working with a third party, Synertec, to create a more effective and efficient paper mailing system as part of our direct healthcare provision. Find out more below.

Synertec privacy notice

Health and Social care staff require access to your Urgent Care Plan to enable them to provide the best level of care to you.

To allow health and social care staff involved in your care the ability to utilise your Urgent Care Plan (UCP) access is required to be provided to them through the Better ICP platform.

People who have access to your information will only normally have access to that which they need to fulfil their roles.

Urgent Care Plan privacy notice

 

HRCH is a participating NHS organisation for the Virus Watch research study.

The study looks at the community incidences, system profiles and transmission of Covid 19 in the community. As part of this project, we will hold your personal data securely within the trust.

Access will be limited to NHS professionals who are involved in your direct care and will be held in accordance with current data protection legislation and the study agreement.  For more information on the study, please see the website below. 

https://ucl-virus-watch.net
 

HRCH is working with partners across Northwest London as part of the Whole Systems Integrated Care (WISC).

This is platform which is run by Northwest London Integrated Care Board, who are in charge of improving the health and wellbeing of patients in the area.

WSIC privacy statement

HRCH is working with a third party to provide the ‘X-PERT’ Diabetes Digital App. The app helps facilitate health training and education for patients. Patients will be asked if they would like to use the application. No personal data will be shared without explicit consent.

If a patient chooses to use the app, HRCH will receive notification of the courses which the patient has completed. This will form part of their HRCH patient record. For more information on the app, please speak to your clinician.

HRCH has a licence to use X-PERT structured education courses as part of the Diabetes service. The courses will be run by HRCH staff but patients attending HRCH run courses will be entered into the X-PERT monitoring system.

For more information, please see below.

X-PERT education privacy notice

HRCH are working with Xyla HSS to provide Occupational Therapists (OT) and Physiotherapists (PT) to work with:

  • the Community Recovery Service for people resident in the borough of Hounslow and / or registered with a Hounslow GP
  • the Response and rehabilitation service for people resident in the borough of Richmond and/or registered with a Richmond GP

We are using an external provider due to the number of cases waiting following the service pause during the Covid 19 pandemic.