Agenda item

(To receive a report from Derek Ward, Director of Public Health, which provides the Committee with information on the National General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GDPR) data collection and local risks. Katy Thomas, Head of Health Intelligence will also be in attendance at the meeting)

The Chairman invited Derek Ward, Director of Public Health and Katy Thomas, Head of Intelligence to remotely present the report to the Committee, which provided information on the National General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GDPR) data collection and local risks.

The Committee was advised that NHS Digital was changing the way it collected data from GP sites.  It was noted that although the changes were predominantly around the process that was to be used, the issue had caused some concern.  It was highlighted that the implementation date for the new process had been moved from 1 July to 1 September 2021.

The Committee was advised further that disruption to the national programme or substantial number of patients 'opting out' of data sharing with NHS Digital locally would hamper the national data flows for primary care.  This would mean that data would be unusable for understating needs, fair and effective service provision and outcomes for the residents of Lincolnshire.  It was noted that this would have implications for Lincolnshire County Council and the Director of Public Health in fulfilling their statutory duties to their best abilities; and for the Clinical Commissioning Group to commission and providers to provide high quality, appropriate and effective services for all, making the best use of collective resources.  It was also highlighted that the increasing concern over data sharing might impact engagement with local programmes and agreements.

The report provided information on governance and safeguards; what was changing; what data was shared; and how data was shared by NHS Digital.  It was highlighted that patients' names, addresses were not shared and all other data that could directly identify patients (such as NHS number, date of birth, full postcode) would not be included and would be replaced by unique codes before the data was shared with NHS Digital, which would ensure that patients could not be identified directly to the data.

It was further reported that data shared by NHS Digital was subject to robust rules relating to privacy, security and confidentiality; and that organisations using the data also had to have a clear legal basis to do so.

Dr B Wookey left the meeting at 12.41pm.

Councillor M G Allan left the meeting at 12.43pm.

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

·       What level of patients opting out of data sharing would compromise the data collected.  The Committee was advised that there was not a figure identified in this regard.  To obtain complete data sets, the fewer patients that opted out the better the data would be;

·       Whether anything could be done to encourage patients not to opt out.  The Committee was advised that work was already ongoing with general practices to try and provide reassurances; and that more would need to be done nationally to alleviate any misunderstandings; and

·       Support was extended by some members of the Committee for the need to be able to access the data to ensure that Lincolnshire had all the information required to do the best for Lincolnshire residents.

The Chairman extended his thank on behalf of the Committee to the representatives for their presentation.

RESOLVED

That the report presented be noted and that a further progress report be received at a future date.