Originally published in April 2003
Anyone operating a residential care home will keep information about patients and their health records. The Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act") contains detailed rules on the processing of personal data and breach of these rules could ultimately result in criminal penalties, so it is essential that your systems comply with the law.
A later Care Homes Briefing will address specific issues affecting employee records.
Scope of the Act
The legislation applies to "personal data" - information about individuals ("data subjects") who are either named or identifiable from the data or other information a recipient may have. It includes expressions of opinion, as well as visual data such as photographs, videos, patient scans, x-rays and magnetic resonance images.
