Council Meeting

12th August 2021

Present 

Dr Chris Bunch (Chair), Dr Faouzi Alam, Gill Bennet, Carey Bloomer, Helen Dyer, Dr George Fernie, Andrew Harvey, Mr Adrian Marchbank, Allison Newell, David Riley, Col Rob Russell.

Guests 

John Hodson (NHS Digital).

Observers

Shabnum Ali (NHS Digital, Jonathan Osborne (NHS Digital), Dr Erum Nomani (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust), Sophie Reed (Milestones Trust), Dr Gabrielle Tamura-Rose (St Raphael’s Hospice and St Helier Hospital), Carl Beesley (Office of the National Data Guardian) Ross Thornton (Office of the National Data Guardian).

Apologies

Prof. Martin Crook, Dr Arjun Dhillon, Christopher Fincken, Dr Rhidian Hurle, Dr Julian Marks, Dr Matt Noble, Dr Cait Taylor.

Declarations

Can be found on register of interests. No new interests to add.

Action log

The Chairman reviewed the action log. Of the four open actions two had been closed since the previous meeting in June. Two remain open pending further information. There are also two ongoing reminders on the action log.

Chairman’s update 

The Chairman updated the Council on his recent activities and the meetings he has attended recently including:

  • regular meetings with Dr Nicola Byrne (National Data Guardian);

  • The National Data Guardian Panel and Steering Group

  • meetings with key regulatory stakeholders about the safety and regulation of medical applications;

  • meeting with NHSX to discuss their Information Governance Red Tape Challenge which aims to ‘simplify IG’ and ensure published IG advice is consistent.

Dr Bunch has also been supporting work to finalise the draft Caldicott Guardian guidance set to be published soon and is working with Health Education England (HEE) on developing a suite of training materials about the role of Caldicott Guardians.

Requests for advice

The Council discussed requests for advice including the use of body worn video in an offender health setting. Full detail of requests for advice can be provided upon request and are often also available to view as discussion topics on the digital health Caldicott Guardian Forum.

Information sharing across agencies

The Council discussed a query raised by a Caldicott Guardian at an acute trust on the topic of information sharing across agencies. The Trust has noted an increase in requests from agencies such as local authorities and the police to be part of sharing agreements for reasons beyond the direct care of patients.

A range of scenarios were discussed, with the Council providing useful considerations and advice that could be taken account of when deciding whether information sharing is appropriate, emphasising that the specific facts of each case will be important in deciding whether sharing information would be appropriate.

Data Security and Protection Toolkit update

John Hodson (NHS Digital) joined the meeting to present and discuss key findings from the most recent Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) submissions for 2020-21.

John explained the nature of the DSPT and its purpose, before outlining some key trends they have been able to extract from last year’s submissions, including notable variations in levels of compliance based on organisation type, location and population served. John invited questions from the Council and discussed the benefits and challenges of completing the DSPT.

The Council thanked John for an insightful and engaging presentation and were encouraged by the continued work to improve DSPT compliance.

UKCGC Constitution

Ross Thornton presented updates and amendments to the UKCGC Constitution for consideration. The changes were well received, with further amendments suggested.

Ross Thornton will amend the constitution to reflect the suggestions from Council. These will be considered at the October UKCGC meeting.  

Other business

Ross Thornton invited suggestions for a title for the Caldicott Guardian training suite being developed with Health Education England. Suggestions will be asked for via email.

Andrew Harvey made the group aware that the Strategic Information Governance Network Awards nominations are open until September. Details about how to nominate are on the DSPT website at: https://www.dsptoolkit.nhs.uk/News/100

The next meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday 13th October 2021.