Hello
We use email and text to talk to service users ... we have an internal policy and we have a consent form which we ask the patients to sign to ensure that they are aware of the risk of the method of communications.
We believe that we must move forward with our methods of communications. There has to be disclaimers to show that we have made provisions for the risks involved but at the end of the day it is about the risk appetite of the organisation.
I think the risks must be considered from both sides and who are they actually against? And what happens if the risks aren't taken? If you refuse to communicate in a certain manner you are making it difficult for the recipients ..... so you could get as much bad press from being "difficult" as you could from sending something in a high risk communication. It's about balance isn't it. Sending a letter can have as many risks - wrongly delivered, opened by not intended recipient, or lost .......
Quote from the daily mail :
Quarter of a million letters lost each week. Figures showing 280,000 letters are lost or substantially delayed every week
Teresa Gudge
IT Security Specialist
BCS - ISEB Certificate Information Security Management; BCS - ISEB Data Protection
Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Bath NHS House, Newbridge Hill, Bath, BA1 3QE
Tel: 01225 731774 Mobile 0782 6953268
[log in to unmask]
www.awp.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Simon Howarth
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 09:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Secure Messaging for patients
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I am very much involved in this area and it annoys me that there is a still as "Oooo you can't do that" attitude. The plain fact is that patients themselves are requesting contact by these methods. Of course we need to ensure that patients are made aware of the risks and we need to further ensure that information of a sensitive nature is kept to a minimum. However, contact by text and email and Skype are all being done within the NHS now, with due care given to risks and benefits.
One place I do work for are in the process of putting together a text messaging service to let HIV patients know their test results; requested by a growing number of patients.
Also, we get very hung up about email - it's not perfect, but it's a very effective and secure communications medium and a perfect vehicle for providing key information to patients. The sooner we adopt good practice and get on with it the better.
There are a lot of projects (less joined up than they might be) on the go at the moment, here are a few:
* Test results by text to HIV
* Appointment reminders
* A system in the midlands to allow patients to be reminded to take actions on their health - "Take you insulin".
* Skype used for mental health consultations.
* Emails between patients and doctors for key health issues.
* Systems like "www.patientsknowbest.com" which is changing how medical records are perceived within healthcare.
It's here. We need to embrace this stuff and make sure it is done right rather than try to block it on the grounds that there is risk. There is risk with everything, all the time.
On the subject of GPs - I have yet to meet a GP under 65 that is not for all this, their concern is that it is done correctly and does not remove the relationship that GPs have with their patients.
As you can see I can write a book on this stuff, and in summary - this progress is good. Let's do it right and improve care and save money - the holy grail of the NHS.
Simon Howarth MSc. MBCS CITP
Director and Senior Consultant
The Information Edge
Mob. 07836 365588
Webtech Systems Limited t/a The Information Edge. Registered in England No. 3428632 www.informationedge.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brunella Longo
Sent: 27 March 2014 17:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Secure Messaging for patients
And in any case, if one had the faintest idea of what 'secure' means in information and communication technologies, he / she would never put forward such talks "in the interest of patients" - and not because of "simple" risks of losing confidentiality but because accidental or fraudulent errors in patients' data risk to misrepresent their health status and to make GPs liable for the consequences.
Anyway, if anybody is interested in a pilot project exploring ways in which human computer interactions in the health records management field can be designed in order to provide the system with additional levels of trust and security, please get in touch.
Brunella Longo
Information Management Adviser
http://www.brunellalongo.co.uk
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