One particular area of concern is redacting information contained in letters from hospitals, as this could be overlooked without clinical checks taking place. Additional training may be necessary in this regard and staff should be encouraged to ask senior staff when in doubt. Practice staff entering data into patient records must be able to recognise the circumstances in which information should be hidden from patient view – and how this done. It is therefore essential to review how entries are made and also to consider how third-party information (as well as information which could cause serious harm) is identified and redacted at the point of entry into the records. Practices must ensure that careful consideration is given to what third-party information which is unknown to the patient is redacted from the patient’s view (the ICO provides some guidance on this here). GP records often contain confidential information directly relating to a third party or information that has been provided by a third party, which is clinically relevant and may be considered sensitive. Prospective access to records will be subject to the same safeguarding requirements and management of third-party information as when applied to a SAR, and practices should ensure that an awareness of the patient's ability to view their information is integrated within existing policies and processes. Those patients who already have been provided digital access to their past health records will maintain this access.
This is expected to be made easier via the NHS App later in 2022 but there will be no requirement for general practices to review the retrospective records of every patient. Patients will still be required to file a SAR to view historic coded records (filed before the "go live" date), allowing requisite checks. scanned documents or positive test results) until they have been checked/authorised in order to give clinicians the opportunity to contact and speak to patients first. However, patients will not see new personal information (e.g. The new arrangement will mean that GPs have to consider the impact of each clinical entry being made in real time.
Patients are currently able to access personal information under a data subject access request (SAR) and the records should be carefully checked before being disclosed. There have been calls to delay the “go live” date for this but NHS Digital has yet to issue an update. Patients with the NHS App and other online accounts will be provided with digital access to new entries in their GP health records under NHS Digital plans. If a record is redacted electronically, by deleting a field of data or in any other way, the agency must identify the redaction and state the basis for the claimed exemption as required by RCW 42.56.210(3).GP practices in England will be aware that from April 2022 people aged 16 or over can register for an online account to view their medical records. However, in some instances electronic redaction might not be feasible and a paper copy of the record with traditional redaction might be the only way to provide the redacted record.
#Redacted email meaning software#
For other electronic records, an agency may use software that permits it to electronically redact on the copy of the record. For electronic records such as databases, an agency can sometimes redact a field of exempt information by excluding it from the set of fields to be copied. It is often a good practice to keep the initial copies which were redacted in case there is a need to make additional copies for disclosure or to show what was redacted in addition, an agency is required under its records retention schedules to keep responses to a public records request for a defined period of time. Another approach is to scan the paper record and redact it electronically. For paper records, an agency should redact materials by first copying the record and then either using a black marker on the copy or covering the exempt portions with copying tape, and then making a copy.