Health Diploma Level 3 Unit 8 / Hsc038

1. What legislation and codes of practice relates to the handling, storage, and sharing of information? [1.1]

The main piece of legislation is the Data Protection Act 1998. This covers the medical, social, credit information and the local authority.

2. What are the main points of this law and how do you follow this in your work place?

There are 8 points, these are
1,Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully
2, Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
3, Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are prossessed .
4, Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
5, Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6, Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
7, Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
8, Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the
European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

I follow these points in my workplace by ensuring all information is kept secure, if this is written information then it must be kept locked away and only taken out by persons with the authority to do so. If its electronically then once this info has been input onto our secure system it must be saved under the correct file. Not allowing other patient to see documents not concerning them.

3. Describe the main features of manual and electronic information storage systems, how does this help ensure security? [2.1]
We in theatres have what is called “theatre man”, only persons working in the operating theatre can input the patients data on to the system, this information is stored on the theatre man and on the patients electronic notes. Once this info has been saved only authorised personal can ask to see this information for example, the surgeon who was operating on the patient at the time may need to see the info if he needs to look back on the patients notes. This helps ensure security as it