FAQs
Please see answers to commonly asked questions below.
Who can see my data through the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Record (ICR)?
Health and social care professionals from the following organisations in Coventry and Warwickshire:
- GP practices within Coventry and Warwickshire
- Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
- George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
- South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust
- Coventry City Council
- Warwickshire County Council
- West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust
Health and social care organisations in the neighbouring areas of Birmingham and Solihull and Herefordshire and Worcestershire are also able to view your information for the purpose of giving you direct care should it be necessary.
Who is responsible for the Coventry and Warwickshire ICR?
The Coventry and Warwickshire ICR programme is managed by Innovate Healthcare Services and governed by the NHS and local authorities of Coventry and Warwickshire.
What are the benefits of allowing my record to be available through the ICR?
The benefits of doing this are that it will:
- reduce how often you need to repeat your health and social care history to individuals involved in your care and support
- improve your safety – the clinicians will have medications and allergy information direct from the GP system
- improve clinical decision making – the clinician will see recent visits and also any tests requested and prescriptions issued
- improve clinical efficiency, by ensuring the clinical teams have appropriate and timely access to clinical information to inform your care.
Is this a local or national thing?
The Coventry and Warwickshire ICR has been developed locally. There are equivalent initiatives in other areas, but this is a local development.
Doesn’t everyone involved in my health and social care already have access to this information?
No, each organisation will keep its own record. For example, everyone who is registered at a GP practice will have a record kept at that practice.
If you attend a local hospital, they will create their own record, and the same for social care services. Many of these records are now held electronically, which means that we can now bring all the information together in one place for a fuller picture to support your care needs.
I live in one county but am registered with a GP in a different one. Am I included?
If you are registered with a GP practice in Coventry and Warwickshire, Birmingham and Solihull, or Herefordshire and Worcestershire, then you will be included.
Anyone registered outside this area will need to contact their GP to see if they are included in a different programme.
As we now have the capability to include the details of people under the age of 18, their records will also be available for health and care professionals to view through the Shared Care Record.
How will you prevent the information being used inappropriately?
For health and social care organisations to be able to keep records about you, by law they must comply with data protection legislation. All staff members within these organisations receive training on their responsibilities under the legislation.
Use of your information is governed by existing rules and regulations to protect patient/client confidentiality. The NHS and local authorities take data management and security of confidential information very seriously.
Information that is available for health and care professionals to view through the Coventry and Warwickshire ICR will never be made public, used for advertising, or sold. Professionals accessing your information are subject to the existing codes of conduct for NHS and local authority staff, which means they must respect patient/client privacy and keep all information about you safe.
For more information about how the NHS handles your health records visit NHS Choices. You can do the same for social care records by visiting the Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council websites.
Can I see my information, or could someone ask to see it on my behalf?
Yes. You have the right, under data protection legislation, to request access to any information that organisations like the NHS hold about you.
This includes copies of paper, electronic and hybrid patient/client health and care records. For more information about how to view your health or social care records, please visit the relevant organisation’s website.
Does the ICR include sensitive information?
Some sensitive information is withheld from records available to view through the ICR.
We have a data sharing agreement to ensure the appropriate exclusions are in place to meet legal/statutory requirements and sensitivity concerns.
What if I don't want my information to be available through the ICR?
You have the right to object at any time if you are 16 years of age or older.
From the age of 13 to 16, we will consider your right to object if your form has been signed on your behalf by someone with parental responsibility.
If it has not, we will ask a recognised health or care professional if they consider you to be competent to make such a decision.
If you are under the age of 13, we will only consider your right to object if your form has been signed on your behalf by someone with parental responsibility.
However, we don’t recommend objecting. If you do object, each organisation will only see electronic information recorded on its own system. Anything needed from other services as part of your own, or your child’s direct care or treatment will be forwarded through traditional methods such as phone, email or letter – as it is now.
Please consider carefully before objecting as it could mean vital information about you or your child is not immediately available when either you or they need health or social care support.
How do I object?
If you want to object, you can do so by visiting our Right to Object page.
Why does my local council need to see my health records?
Social care is provided by local councils, with hospitals and community care services referring many patients to social care. Allowing all these services to see people’s information will help them work together better to give people the best care.
Please see our privacy notice for details of what health and care professionals will be able to see.
Who does this affect?
Anyone registered with a GP practice in Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, or Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be included.