Protecting Sensitive Information

The Data Protection Act (1998) requires that personal details and information must be kept secure and confidential. Confidentiality is necessary in any Health and Care Social setting because it maintains between the individuals and the organisation. An environment of trust encourages people to be open and honest with those who care for them. They provide all the details necessary so that they receive the best care possible. The employers are accountable to the regulators for protecting confidentiality .Preserving privacy and confidentiality is essential so that they do not risk the discipline of being struck off a professional register. Each member of the staff has a responsibility to ensure that the care record are accurate recorded. A clear information will aid patients to participate fully in decision making about their

Data Protection Act 1998 – gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them, and those that processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which makes sure that personal information is fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; accurate and up to date; not kept for longer than is necessary; processed in line with your rights; secure; not transferred to other countries without adequate protection;

The Canadian Health Information Management Association Code of Ethics outlines a powerful standard for Health Information Management Professionals. When one becomes a member of CHIMA along comes the responsibility of following the code of ethics as faithfully and professionally as possible. Although the interpretation of the guidelines can vary among individuals and organizations, the basis and underlying meaning of each code should be synonymous. The ten codes set general expectations for HIM professionals that help the public understand the ethical views of CHIMA. With these ethics in place we are able to decrease the number of breaches, improve data quality and encourage lifelong learning. There are a number of breaches that occur in healthcare settings that go unreported on a daily basis. The reason for these cases going unreported could be the lack of knowledge of severity and consequences, or have a malicious intent. The case study is a definite breach of the CHIMA code of ethics- and could fall into numbers 1-10, but in my opinion is more relevant to numbers 2-3, 5-7 and 9. Jane should have acted in a more proactive manner reflecting CHIMA values and informed the appropriate individuals so that they correct actions could be made.

Within the health and social care setting there are numerous peices of legislation and codes of practice designed to protect individuals.These are there to protect from breaches of confidentiality were the information held on that individual is only viewed by staff directly involved in their care.

Carers must respect confidential information and clearly explain agency policies about confidentiality to service users and carers. Carers and service users must be informed about confidentiality rules if not and something goes wrong it can cause a lot of problems to the care home.

In the health care business, there are certain standards and laws that have been put in place to protect our patients and their personal health information. When a health care facility fails to protect their patient’s confidential information, the US Government may get involved and facilities may be forced to pay huge sums of money in fines, and risk damaging their reputation.

Data protection is a very important piece of legislation that was brought into power in 1998, because it has been designed to prevent confidential and personal information being passed on to other people and any relevant companies without a person’s consent. This also means that any information that is stored of children should be kept in either a password protected or lockable location.

It is also just as important to keep a confidentiality because of data protection legislation which enforces the rights of the individual to have their personal information protected (Legislation.gov.uk, 1998). So legally, healthcare professionals have a duty to protect the healthcare user’s personal information, at least to the legal minimum, or face proceedings. On top of this though, there is a further responsibility placed on the healthcare professional to respect the right of the user to their private life and beliefs. This is outlined by the NMC’s Code (2012) which reiterates the Data Protection Act, 1998 and further clarifies the lengths that healthcare professionals should go to ensure the healthcare user’s confidentiality and privacy is protected.

The Data Protection Act states that you must only collect information that you need for a specific purpose and keep it secure, ensure that it is relevant and up to date to guarantee that no changes in medication or health status goes unnoticed or unaccounted

Information Commissioner’s Office (2012) Introduction to The Data Protection Act 1998. [Online] Available from: http://www.ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/library/Corporate/Research_and_reports/ico_presentation_EVOC_20120528.ashx [Accessed: 11th October 2013]

All of the staff need to make sure that confidentiality is paramount. Staff have to read and understand the Data Protection Act of 1998. We have to make sure that we are clear about our standards of conduct, that we are expected to meet. We are encouraged to use the codes of conduct to maintain our own practice

Therefore every care practitioner should endeavour to promote theses rights when dealing with services users and their relatives. Furthermore, it is crucial for service users to understand that any information they give will be with strict confidentiality. It is a legal requirement for health and social care services to keep personal data confidential.

Data is defined as useful raw material which is intended to be useful for both the originator and for the intended receiver. Data consists largely of facts and figures ideal for communicating the intended meaning. This data can be interpreted and can be categorised as follows;

The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation that controls how an individual’s personal information is used by organisations, businesses and the government. This Act ensures that HR departments only collect data from individuals is covered by what we are allowed to collect under the Act, relevant and not excessive, we must also be sure that data is not stored for longer than necessary. We must ensure that data is stored securely and confidentially; and that we are open about the reasons why we are collecting and storing the data.

Prosecutors said Jones obtained dependent information from IRS files and used the data on tax returns she prepared, knowing that the taxpayers were not entitled to claim these dependents. This allegedly occurred for a year ending in February 2007.