Confidentiality is key within the field of medicine, and this applies to fostering and adoption medical assessments too.
In today’s blog, we’re taking a closer look at what we mean by ‘confidentiality’ and exploring the measures Orr Medical takes to ensure confidentiality in medical assessments for fostering and adoption.
What Is Confidentiality?
Confidentiality is the process of keeping sensitive or personal information private.
Examples of the types of information that might feature in a medical assessment and should be kept confidential include:
- Personal information, such as name, date of birth, height and weight
- Contact information, such as addresses and telephone numbers
- Medical information, such as medications, conditions, and operations
- Details of any appointments or referrals
- Images, such as photographs and x-rays
- Lifestyle information, such as how many units of alcohol a person drinks
Data Protection Legislation in the UK
Keeping private information confidential isn’t just a moral obligation. Here in the UK, the protection of data is enshrined in law and governed by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Data protection regulations set out how data can be collected, stored and used, and sets out the rights of individuals to their own data.
Any individual or organisation who handles data must abide by the above regulations. This includes fostering and adoption agencies, and local authorities, as well as GPs and medical advisors who carry out health checks on prospective adopters and foster carers.
The Caldicott Principles
Sometimes, professionals need to share information that has been given in confidence with other professionals or services in order to provide care, or protect the public.
For information to be shared in this way, professionals must adhere to what’s known as The Caldicott Principles.
There are eight principles, and these clearly set out when and how information can be shared in order to uphold confidentiality.
Fostering medical assessments and adoption medical assessments are a good example of when The Caldicott Principles might be used in practice.
The GP undertaking your medical assessment will need to share the personal, and potentially sensitive information, such as your past medical history and any current treatment or medications, for example, with the fostering or adoption agency you are applying to. They may also need to make referrals to other services. In doing this, they’ll need to follow the eight principles, and also obey UK data protection law.
How Orr Medical Protects Information
At Orr Medical, we understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality during medical evaluations and take stringent measures to protect the personal and sensitive information of both our clients and applicants.
Here are some of the ways Orr Medical upholds data security when conducting fostering and adoption medicals.
Encrypted Communication Only
We exclusively use secure and encrypted channels to send and receive documents to ensure the safety of all digital data.
Secure Data Management
All of our records are stored, transmitted, and received in encrypted formats, to prevent unauthorised access and data breaches. We also have a rigorous data destruction schedule so that data isn’t stored any longer than necessary.
NHS Compliance
As an approved NHS provider organization, Orr Medical is fully compliant with the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit. This helps ensure that our practices meet rigorous data protection standards.
Trusted Partners
We also work with trusted partners and use secure online systems to help protect the information we handle.
Medical Assessments For Fostering and Adoption
If you’ve been wondering about confidentiality in medical assessments for fostering and adoption, we hope this has made things clearer and reassured you.
The trust of our clients and applicants is hugely important to us, and we’re dedicated to upholding the security of your personal data at all times.
If you’re a prospective foster carer or adopter, and you’d like to find out more about the medical assessment process with Orr Medical, you can find out more on the applicant pages of our website or on our blog.
If you’re an agency or local authority looking for expert fostering and adoption medical services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out more about working with us. Alternatively, you can call us on 01772 915861. We look forward to hearing from you.