Caldicott Principles and Data Protection

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[pic] QUICK REFERENCE TO CALDICOTT & THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998 PRINCIPLES [pic] What is Caldicott? The term Caldicott refers to a review commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer. A review committee, under the chairmanship of Dame Fiona Caldicott, investigated ways in which patient information is used in the NHS. The review committee also made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the way the NHS handles and protects patient information. These are summarised by: Six Information Management Principles The Six Caldicott Principles 1. Justify the purpose(s) of using confidential information 2. Only use it when absolutely necessary 3. Use the minimum that is required 4. Access should be on a strict need-to-know basis 5. Everyone must understand his or her responsibilities 6. Understand and comply with the law What is the Data Protection Act 1998? The Data Protection Act 1998 became law in March 2000. It sets standards which must be satisfied when obtaining, recording, holding, using or disposing of personal data. These are summarised by 8 Data Protection Principles As well as information held on computers, the Data Protection Act 1998 also covers most manual records e.g. Data Protection Principles Personal data must be: 1 Processed fairly and lawfully 2 Processed for specified purposes 3 Adequate, relevant and not excessive 4 Accurate and kept up-to-date 5 Not kept for longer than necessary 6 Processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects 7 Protected by appropriate security (practical and organisational) 8 Not transferred outside the EEA without adequate protection Principle 1 Processed fairly and lawfully There should be no surprises, so ... inform data subjects why you are collecting their information, what you are going to do with it and who you may share it with... for example: When formulating a
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