Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2002/1438 |
(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 1st June 2002.(2) In these Regulations—in writing; ortransmitted by electronic means in a legible form which is capable of being used for subsequent reference.(4) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation which bears that number in these Regulations and any reference to a numbered paragraph in a regulation is a reference to the paragraph which bears that number in that regulation.(5) These Regulations extend to England and Wales only.the surveillance and analysis of health and disease;the monitoring and audit of health and health related care provision and outcomes where such provision has been made;the planning and administration of the provision made for health and health related care;medical research approved by research ethics committees;that information supports an analysis of the risk of developing that disease or condition; andit is required for the counseling and support of a person who is concerned about the risk of developing that disease or condition.the recording and holding of information;the retrieval, alignment and combination of information;the organisation, adaption or alteration of information;the blocking, erasure and destruction of information.approved by the Secretary of State, andauthorized by the person who lawfully holds the information.(4) Where the Secretary of State considers that it is necessary in the public interest that confidential patient information is processed for a purpose specified in paragraph (1) , he may give notice to any person who is approved and authorized under paragraph (3) to require that person to process that information for that purpose and any such notice may require that the information is processed forthwith or within such period as is specified in the notice.(5) A person who processes confidential patient information under this regulation shall inform the Patient Information Advisory Group of that processing and shall make available to the Secretary of State such information as he may require to assist him in the investigation and audit of that processing and in his annual consideration of the provisions of these Regulations which is required by section 60(4) of the Act.diagnosing communicable diseases and other risks to public health;recognising trends in such diseases and risks;controlling and preventing the spread of such diseases and risks;outbreaks of communicable disease;incidents of exposure to communicable disease;the delivery, efficacy and safety of immunisation programmes;adverse reactions to vaccines and medicines;risks of infection acquired from food or the environment (including water supplies) ;the giving of information to persons about the diagnosis of communicable disease and risks of acquiring such disease.(2) For the purposes of this regulation, “processing” includes any operations, or set of operations set out in regulation 2(2) which are undertaken for the purposes set out in paragraph (1) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .persons employed or engaged for the purposes of the health service;other persons employed or engaged by a Government Department or other public authority in communicable disease surveillance.(4) Where the Secretary of State considers that it is necessary to process patient information for a purpose specified in paragraph (1) , he may give notice to any body or person specified in paragraph (2) to require that person or body to process that information for that purpose and any such notice may require that the information is processed forthwith or within such period as is specified in the notice.(5) Where confidential information is processed under this regulation, the bodies and persons specified in paragraph (2) shall make available to the Secretary of State such information as he may require to assist him in the investigation and audit of that processing and in his annual consideration of the provisions of these Regulations which is required by section 60(4) of the Act.Anything done by a person that is necessary for the purpose of processing confidential patient information in accordance with these Regulations shall be taken to be lawfully done despite any obligation of confidence owed by that person in respect of it. in the case of medical research, by F12the Health Research Authority, andin any other case, by the Secretary of State.(2) The Health Research Authority may not give an approval under paragraph (1) (a) unless a research ethics committee has approved the medical research concerned.(3) The Health Research Authority shall put in place and operate a system for reviewing decisions it makes under paragraph (1) (a) .
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