How we use patient information
Our aim is to provide the best care possible to our patients.
To help us achieve this, there might be occasions when we need to share information about you, or enable other approved organisations to process this information.
This could include giving your address to the people who provide patient transport, or allowing specialists who carry out tests on blood samples access to your name and medical records number.
The short animation below, which is the first of its kind in the NHS, explains how we keep patient data safe, why sharing information is essential to modern healthcare and how we work to the highest standards of data protection.
Patient data is only ever shared with external organisations in accordance with national laws and regulations, including the Data Protection Act. At the Royal Free London, like all other trusts, there is a member of staff, known as the Caldicott Guardian, who is responsible for ensuring patient data is shared appropriately.