GDPR/Policies

For information regarding the national data opt out scheme please visit – Overview – Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Brave AI

As a Practice, we are using BRAVE AI which serves as a clinical decision support tool, empowering clinicians to make well-informed decisions about individualised care plans. The tool itself does not autonomously make decisions regarding interventions; instead, it assists healthcare professionals in their decision-making process. The primary objective of BRAVE AI is to promote preventive healthcare practices over reactive treatments.

BRAVE AI employs computer algorithms to evaluate the complexity of each patient’s health needs within our practice. By assigning a score, it helps identify individuals at risk of deteriorating health, potentially necessitating hospitalisation. This innovative tool enhances our ability to recognise patients who may otherwise be overlooked, including those with borderline health indicators or infrequent medical interactions.

In order to identify a patient who may benefit from interventions on the BRAVE AI tool we will use your NHS number. All data processed by BRAVE AI is stored securely and confidential patient information is exclusively disclosed to clinical teams directly involved in patient care.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the processing of your data alongside BRAVE AI, we encourage you to contact us at Enquiriesatalbany.L83034@nhs.net.

Confidentiality

All information given during a consultation is regarded as confidential and will not be given to a third party without your consent. Nonetheless, there are rare occasions when a doctor`s duty to the public may outweigh his or her duty of confidentiality to the patient. In such circumstances the General Medical council lays down clear guidelines regarding the doctor`s legal duties. We are happy to discuss any aspect of your medical care with you, and you have a right in law to see your medical records if you wish.

Freedom of Information

PUBLICATION SHEME

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the ‘classes’ of information the practice intends to routinely make available.

This scheme is available from reception.

Practice Charter

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients. If you are threatening, violent or abusive we have the right to have you removed immediately from our list of patients. If necessary we will also call the police.

Heidi Health (AI Digital Note-Taking Tool)

We use Heidi Health, an Australian-developed artificial intelligence (AI) system, to enhance our clinical documentation processes. This tool transcribes spoken words—whether face-to-face, over the telephone, or via video—into a draft consultation note, which clinicians then review and finalise.

How It Works

1. Speech-to-Text Conversion

o Heidi Health employs speech-to-text technology to capture a clinician’s spoken words in real time during or immediately after a consultation.

2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

o Once the audio is transcribed, the AI uses advanced NLP techniques to interpret medical terminology and contextual clues. This ensures that clinical details are recognised and placed appropriately within the draft note.

3. Template Selection

o The clinician can choose from existing templates (e.g., standard GP or specialty templates) or create custom layouts. The AI does not automatically select a template; this decision remains with the clinician.

4. Review & Finalisation

o Before anything is added to a patient’s official record, the clinician thoroughly checks the AI-generated text for accuracy. They can amend errors manually to ensure correctness. Only the originating clinician can view and edit these notes.

5. Feedback & Continuous Improvement

o If recurring errors are identified, clinicians can report them to Heidi Health’s support team for review and potential optimisation of the transcription process.

Cloud-Based and Standalone Heidi Health is cloud-based and does not require software installation on our local systems. Currently, there is no direct integration with our main clinical system, which means the clinician manually copies the final notes into each patient’s record.

Data Protection & Future Integration A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) has been completed for our current use of Heidi Health. If Heidi Health’s functionality is enhanced to integrate directly with clinical systems in the future, we will review and update this DPIA accordingly.

Purpose Heidi Health is intended to streamline and improve notetaking, but it does not replace clinical judgement. All diagnoses, prescriptions, and treatment decisions remain the responsibility of our healthcare professionals.

Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)

A Data Protection Impact Assessment (or DPIA) is a tool used by an organisation, or organisations, when planning a project that uses its service users’ data in a way that is different to the way the data has been used in the past.

It helps the organisation to design a system of managing this data to minimise risk to the data itself, and to help the organisation make sure they are acting within data protection regulations and following the law.

For thoroughness, organisations should ideally do a DPIA for any major project that involves the processing of service users’ data, even if the data isn’t being used in a new way.

If you would like to see the DPIAs connected to data processing at Albany Surgery, these are available on request. Please send an email to “enquiriesatalbany.L83034@nhs.net“, or come into the surgery, and we will arrange this.

For more information on DPIAs, please click here for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guide to DPIAs.

The Devon and Cornwall Care Record

What is the Devon and Cornwall Care Record?

The different NHS organisations which provide care to you have, until now, each used their own clinical records with information on your visits to them. For example, if you had an appointment with a consultant in hospital and the consultant wanted you to have some tests or scans done, the hospital would keep a record of the results of these tests. Information like this was not automatically shared with other organisations such as your GP surgery, so if we needed a copy of these results to help in your care, as a surgery we would need to ask the hospital for a copy and wait for this to be sent to us.

The new shared care record system for Devon and Cornwall has now been introduced to improve the way you receive care.

The Devon and Cornwall Care Record is a secure computer system that brings together information about your health and care from multiple healthcare organisations across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and presents it as a single record. This means that if you need your GP to see a letter from the hospital, or important test results that the hospital asked you to have, your GP can access the shared care record system and view your results straight away.

This helps with your care at other organisations too; having a more complete view of your medical history helps healthcare professionals identify problems more effectively, and make quicker diagnoses. For instance, they can see which allergies you suffer from, and any treatment and medication you have received at your GP surgery.

As well as making treatment safer, the care you receive will be more co-ordinated, giving you a smoother journey through the health system.

It also saves healthcare staff the time it takes to find information, and spares you the frustration of having to answer the same questions or undergo duplicate or unnecessary tests.

How do we keep your data safe?

Keeping your personal data safe is a key aspect of the Devon and Cornwall Care Record, and we take every required measure to keep this information secure and confidential. Shared care records are subject to UK data protection legislation. They can only be viewed by people involved in your care, and they work under strict codes of conduct.

However, if you would prefer that your information is not shared in this way, you can tell the shared care organisation by filling out the objection form on the Devon and Cornwall Care Record website (please click here to go straight to the form).

(A DPIA is a tool used by an organisation, or organisations, when planning a project that uses its service users’ data in a way that is different to the way the data has been used in the past. It helps the organisation to design a system of managing this data which comes with minimal risk to the data itself, and to help the organisation make sure they are acting within data protection regulations and following the law. For more information about DPIAs, and how to view the surgery’s DPIAs, please click here.)

Where can you find out more?

For more information, please visit the Devon and Cornwall Care Record website: https://devonandcornwallcarerecord.nhs.uk