Council Meeting
26 March 2025
Present
Dr George Fernie (Chair), Helen Dyer (Vice Chair), Dr Faouzi Alam, Dr Neil Bhatia, Professor Martin Crook, Christopher Fincken, Mr Adrian Marchbank, Arjun Dhillon, Jonathan Osborn, Dr Chris Bunch, David Riley, Alison Metcalfe
Guests
Nick Day (Policy & Programme Lead for the Medical Examiner System), Dr Huw Twamley (Regional Medical Examiner for the North West), Dr Alan Mitchell (President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment)
Observers
Raz Edwards, Deborah Topping, Amy Jenkins, Claire Raffety, Sophie Reed
Secretariat
Rachael Merrison
Apologies
Surgeon Commodore Jason E Smith, Darren Lloyd, Dr Gabrielle Tamura-Rose, Phil Koczan, Allison Newell, Colin Harper, Dr Matthew Noble, Dr Erum Nomani, Rhidian Hurle
Declarations of interest
Can be found on the register of interests. No other new interests were declared.
1. Actions
The UKCGC Chair and Council members reviewed the action log. The Chair provided an update on the open actions.
Council reviewed the notes of the 21 November 2024 Council meeting and accepted them as an accurate record.
2. Chairman’s update
The Chair welcomed Helen Dyer in her new capacity of Vice Chair with congratulations on the appointment.
The Chair raised the forthcoming merger between NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, and the potential implications this may have for the National Data Guardian and the Secretariat’s support for UKCGC activities. The Council’s support and thoughts were offered to the Secretariat, and consideration would be given to opportunities to streamline processes, including support for meeting minutes, while capacity is limited.
The Chair provided a summary of meetings of note attended since the last Council meeting, for members’ benefit, including engagement with the National Data Guardian (NDG).
18 varied advice items have been received and responded to since the last meeting, six from members of the public.
3. Vice-chair’s update
The Vice Chair provided an update on the breakfast club, which continues with 247 members. Workshops and evening classes are now on Eventbrite and are available to any individuals who support the Caldicott Principles. A further item on AI may be proposed as an open discussion.
4. General Updates
Inappropriate access to medical records: Attendees expressed support for engaging with the NDG and NHS England’s IG Policy to explore the topic of inappropriate staff access to medical records.
Domestic Abuse Forum: Christopher Fincken provided an update of the domestic abuse forum that he attended.
5. Update on the new Medical Examiner System
Nick Day (Programme and Policy Lead for the Medical Examiner System) and Dr Huw Twamley (Regional Medical Examiner for the North West Region) presented a summary of the new system, with Medical Examiners added to the list of people who can request access to a health record. The following subjects were discussed:
1. Variable local implementation, with concerns around access raised, particularly from community-based systems.
2. Medical examiner’s records and the need to consider each requests for access on case by case basis, as they are unlikely to be considered health records as defined by the DPA 2018 and AHRA 1990.
6. Work on human rights with reference to Caldicott Principle 7
Dr Alan Mitchell (President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)) presented an overview of the committee’s work under the Council of Europe. Discussion considered overmedication of patients, the use of unnecessary force to restrain, under what circumstances a report will be published without state agreement, and instances where the committee’s work has effected improvements.
7. Other Business
Disclosure delays associated with consent validation: Alison Metcalfe queried the availability of guidance for Healthcare Providers (HCPs) regarding consent to disclose medical records (in this case, from the claimant to support the assessment of claims for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS)). Members discussed the barriers arising (acceptability of electronic patient consent; out-of-date consent; a requirement for exact wording prior to disclosure), but confirmed that guidance would acknowledge each organisation’s responsibility to satisfy itself that the consent received is appropriate and informed. Given the resourcing issues associated with this process, with prioritisation given to Subject Rights Requests, every effort should be made to facilitate decision-making (i.e. asking for the entire medical record will invite substantially more correspondence before disclosure is approved).
Criminal Justice System talk: Christopher Fincken would be holding a discussion regarding Caldicott principles within the Criminal Justice System.
8. Next meeting
The next meeting will be held virtually on 15 May 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.