Privacy: Proxy ordering of medication in care homes

The Haider Practice, St John’s Therapy Centre, 162 St John’s Hill, London, SW11 1SW

Tel 020 8812 4170 

In order to facilitate proxy ordering of repeat prescriptions via the GP system, care home staff are granted access by the GP to view and request repeat prescription medication and allergy information of residents. The benefit of doing this is that it enables care home staff to more effectively manage residents’ medication.

Once the prescription has been requested by care home, the usual process is followed, in that the request goes to the GP for approval, and then on to the relevant pharmacist to dispense.

This processing is for the provision of direct care, which is care delivered to the individual alone.

The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this surgery and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the GDPR:
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.
Article 61(f) ‘processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data….’
Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services...”  

We will also recognise your rights established under UK case law collectively known as the “Common Law Duty of Confidentiality”

“Common Law Duty of Confidentiality”, common law is not written out in one document like an Act of Parliament. It is a form of law based on previous court cases decided by judges; hence, it is also referred to as 'judge-made' or case law. The law is applied by reference to those previous cases, so common law is also said to be based on precedent.

The general position is that if information is given in circumstances where it is expected that a duty of confidence applies, that information cannot normally be disclosed without the information provider's consent.

In practice, this means that all patient information, whether held on paper, computer, visually or audio recorded, or held in the memory of the professional, must not normally be disclosed without the consent of the patient. It is irrelevant how old the patient is or what the state of their mental health is; the duty still applies.

Three circumstances making disclosure of confidential information lawful are:

• where the individual to whom the information relates has consented;
• where disclosure is in the public interest; and
• where there is a legal duty to do so, for example a court order.

The data will be shared with approved care home staff.

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office

HOW TO CONTACT THE ICO