Requests for records from relatives or solicitors can be confusing and intimidating, but once you know the rules relating to their disclosure, compliance with the legislation need not be complicated, says Kristy Gouldsmith, managing director, Sapphire Consulting Group
By their very nature, care homes process a great deal of data, much of which would be classed under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as ‘special category personal data’ (health and care records). This data requires special management and should be carefully controlled.
Care homes are frequently faced with requests for records from resident’s relatives or solicitors and knowing what can be disclosed and to whom can be quite confusing. While many care home managers will simply hand over the records, the decision to do so should depend on many factors, which include whether the resident is alive or deceased, whether they are self funded and whether or not they lack capacity.
All care homes are required by the GDPR to have a data protection officer (DPO) to manage their data and to ensure compliance with the various regulations and legislation relating to data protection. Part of the remit of the DPO is to assess requests for residents’ records.
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