The National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care has today published the outcomes from a public consultation about the Caldicott Principles and Caldicott Guardians
The new principle’s purpose is to make clear that patient and service user expectations must be considered and informed when confidential information is used, to ensure ‘no surprises’ about the handling or sharing of their data. Following feedback from the consultation, the wording of this new, eighth principle is:
Principle 8: Inform patients and service users about how their confidential information is used: A range of steps should be taken to ensure no surprises for patients and service users, so they can have clear expectations about how and why their confidential information is used, and what choices they have about this. These steps will vary depending on the use: as a minimum, this should include providing accessible, relevant and appropriate information - in some cases, greater engagement will be required."