Health records

We aim to provide you with the highest quality healthcare. To do this, we use and keep information about you, your health, and the care we plan and give to you.

We record:

• Your address, date of birth and next of kin
• Details of our contact with you
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details and records of your treatment and care
• Scans and laboratory test results
• Your contact and consent preferences
• Your feedback
• Information from the professionals providing your care

BPAS staff will:

Refer you to or provide a copy of this leaflet and the BPAS Privacy notice www.bpas.org/privacynotice

Everyone working for BPAS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

We have a duty to:

• Maintain full and accurate records of the care given
• Keep your records secure and confidential
• Provide information in a format that is accessible to you
• Only keep information for as long as necessary

By law we must submit an electronic form (HSA4) to notify the Chief Medical Officer of every abortion treatment. The HSA4 does not identify you by name, but will include your: BPAS reference number, date of birth, postcode, ethnicity, marital status, parity, treatment details, gestation and the legal grounds for the abortion.

We will not share information that identifies you, unless:

• You ask us to do so
• We ask, and you agree that we can
• We are required to by law
• We are required in order to complete a public task in the public interest
• We have special permission for health or audit purposes
• It is needed to deliver medical services to you in line with BPAS business needs

At BPAS, we use your records to:

• Provide a good basis for health decisions made by you and healthcare professionals
• Make sure your care is safe and effective
• Work with others to provide your care (if necessary)
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations as a professional healthcare provider
• Identify NHS funding and process payment for services including identity checks

Others may need information about you to:

• Check the quality of care provided
• Protect the health of the general public
• Keep track of NHS spending
• Manage sexual health services in your area
• Look into a concern or complaint about your healthcare
• Teach other staff and health workers
• Help with research

We use anonymised information wherever possible, but occasionally, personally identifiable information is essential for NHS purposes such as research and auditing. Personally identifiable information will only be used where there is a clear legal reason to do so.

You have the right to confidentiality under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidence. The Disability Discrimination and Race Relations Acts may also apply.

• Access
• Rectification
• Erasure (in limited circumstances)
• Portability (in limited circumstances)
• Objection to or restriction of processing
• Right to prevent automatic decisions

You can find out more about your rights in our privacy notice www.bpas.org/privacynotice

If you think your records are inaccurate or incorrect, please inform us as soon as possible via the clinic you are visiting or by email: dataprotection@bpas.org. 

Additional information on your rights is available from the Information Commissioner: ico.org.uk

We may share information with organisations, which help us provide or pay for your care. These may include:

• NHS - CCGs and Trusts (Hospitals)
• Statutory authorities & agencies
• Referrers - GPs or family planning clinics
• Ambulance services
• Contractors acting on behalf of BPAS
• Other organisations working with us to provide BPAS services

We may be asked to share your information with:

• Social services
• Educational services
• Local Authorities
• Police

We will only share information where there is a clear legal reason to do so. Anyone receiving information from us has a legal duty to keep it confidential.

Find out more about Our Care Record Guarantee.

For further information on information governance at BPAS contact:

BPAS Data Protection Officer
Orion House
2 Athena Drive
Tachbrook Park
Leamington Spa
CV34 6RQ

Email: dataprotection@bpas.org

View our Privacy Notice here. 

You can view the 'How we use your health records' leaflet here.