Childrens Privacy Notice

This page tells you what happens to the information that Northampton General Hospital collects about you when you visit the hospital and what we do to keep it safe.

A printable version of the Children's privacy notice is also available.

We collect information about you such as:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your birthday and year
• Your family doctor
• What we do to care for you
• The reason that you are coming to see us
• The name of the person who will normally bring you to your appointments
• Any information that your doctor, you or your family gives us

Our main purpose is to deliver healthcare to you. To do this we collect information to help us to care for you in the best way.

We ask for your address so that we know where we can contact you. We ask for your date of birth as your age may be important to your care.

Each time you come to see us or stay in the hospital we will write down things that you tell us, things that we tell you and any medicines or exercises we give you. This means we can look back at what we have done for you to make sure we are treating you in the best way.

We keep your information electronically and on paper. All of this information together is called your health record. You might also hear it called your ‘notes’ by our doctors and nurses.

When you first come into hospital, you will have your own health record and will be given a number. Everyone’s health record number will be different.

Anyone involved in your direct care at the hospital can see what has been collected. This way we can use the information you have given us to make the right choices about your care.

We will share the information we record about you with your family doctor. This keeps them up to date about what we are doing for you.

Your parents or guardians should also get a copy of any letters we send to your doctor about your care. Sometimes we might also share it with other health professionals involved in your care. We might also share it with your school if we think it is important for them to know. If you have a social worker we will share it with them too.

If you tell us something that makes us worried about your safety or the safety of someone else you know, we might have to share this with other people outside of the hospital - even if you don’t want us to. This is part of our job to keep you and others safe.
 

Everyone working in our hospital understands that they need to keep your information safe. This is called Information Governance, and is all about keeping your information confidential or protecting your privacy. Our staff and any students from universities or colleges are taught about how to keep your information private and safe.

We tell them that they are only allowed to look at your information if they are involved in your care or if they need it to help us run our hospital. They understand that they must keep any information about you safe.

This is very important when we look at the information that identifies you. This information might include your name or address and anything you come to see us about. We are not allowed to give any of this information to anyone who shouldn’t see it. This includes talking to people about it.

All hospitals treating children must keep their information until the child’s 26th birthday. After this we will destroy it unless we feel it needs to be kept for your ongoing care or for your safety.

Sometimes we need to use patient information to help us investigate incidents, complaints or legal claims. If a patient is identified, they or their guardian will be informed.

Yes. If you are in our hospital you may ask to see the records while you are with us. You or your family will need to ask your doctor or nurse first though as there may be things that we would need to explain to you such as abbreviations or medical words.

Yes. You or your parent or guardian will need to contact the medical records team to tell them what it is that you think is wrong so that we can correct it. You can email the team using this address: ngh-tr.healthrecord.admissions@nhs.net

The Caldicott Guardian and Data Protection Officer are responsible for ensuring that any information we collect about you is processed in a confidential, legal and appropriate manner.

If you have any concerns about the use of your information you can contact:

Data Protection Officer
Northampton General Hospital
Cliftonville, Northampton
NN1 5BD
ngh-tr.dpo@nhs.net

Yes. You can tell us by emailing ngh-tr.dpo@nhs.net or you can contact the Information Commissioners Office.

The Information Commissioners Office is an authority which makes sure we are protecting your privacy and that we are doing things correctly.