Kings Private Clinic is committed to the safe and secure storage of all patient, employee or privileged information. Confidentiality and compliance with legislation and standards are of paramount importance. This policy applies to all staff and any contractors engaged to work for the Company.

Responsibilities

Kings Private Clinic recognises it has an obligation under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 to protect the data privacy rights of individual citizens.

The CQC Registered Manager is responsible for ensuring that staff groups and individuals are made aware of their responsibilities in relation to storage, archiving and document management.

In addition, all members of staff are responsible for: –

  • Records will be archived and stored in a manner which complies with statutes, regulations and indemnity requirements. They will be held in a secure and safe manner and will be organised and easily retrievable.
  • All information including patient clinical records, medical history records, consent forms, audits as well as any other documentation and other media will be disposed of in a way that protects confidentiality.
  • Only staff authorised to do so will be able to retrieve records.
  • Any security breach in relation to archiving, disposal and storing of records will be thoroughly investigated and reported in line with the GDPR Data Security Breach Policy and Procedure.

Storage of Records

All records containing personal identifiable information and other confidential paper records must be stored in a safe and secure location e.g., locked cupboard or filing cabinet in a room which is kept locked at all times when not in use. Unauthorised access to records is prohibited.

Archiving

Records will be archived throughout the year as they become inactive and reviewed at least once a year.

Disposal of Documents

Any document which may identify or allow the identification of any person and/or contains personal information must be shredded before disposal.

Where Kings Private Clinic does not use an external organisation to confidentially destroy documents, a cross-cutter shredder method of disposal is used.

Electronic Records Storage

All regulations and standards required for the storage, maintenance and confidential destruction of paper records fully apply to electronic records.

Security Breaches

All security breaches should be reported immediately to the management team at Kings Private Clinic. All breaches will be assessed as to their risk and action taken appropriate to the breach, including notifying those whom the information concerns as well as the regulatory bodies.

All investigations will be evaluated and lessons learnt.