REDUCE Study Privacy Notice
REducing unwarranted variation in the Delivery of high qUality hip fraCture services in England and Wales; the REDUCE study
Privacy notice
The REDUCE study uses health care data from the National Hip Fracture Database, NHS Digital and NHS Wales Informatics Service.
The University of Bristol is committed to using health care data in a safe and responsible manner. We use this information to study the NHS hip fracture service, how it functions and how it might be improved. This information is about the public and how they use NHS services, you therefore have a right to know what information we have and how we intend to use it. Below you will find information to help you understand the data we hold.
The data controller is the University of Bristol. For more information please contact Dr Rita Patel (Rita.Patel@bristol.ac.uk) who is the researcher responsible for management of these data.
The purpose
The data held by the University of Bristol will be used for a programme of work based around improving the NHS hospital hip fracture care pathways, by examining organisational factors responsible for variations that may affect patient recovery after a broken hip. This will involve identifying the magnitude and causes of variations in hip fracture patient care. In addition, it will involve calculating the costs to the NHS for hip fracture care of inpatient, outpatient and unplanned admissions. The study will conduct applied health research and implement research evidence, to improve health and healthcare across the UK. The REDUCE study is funded by the research charity Versus Arthritis (https://www.versusarthritis.org/).
The REDUCE study brings together a collaboration of clinicians, charities, universities (including the University of Bristol, Bristol Medical School), patients and members of the public.
The data
We will hold linked data from the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Patient Episode Database for Wales (PEDW) and Civil Registration Database (CRD) data. NHFD records all hip fractures in the NHS in England and Wales. HES and PEDW are a record of all people who attend hospital in England and Wales, respectively.
Individual NHS hospitals send patient-identifiable information to the Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP, which is run by the Royal College of Physicians [RCP] on behalf of the Healthcare Quality Improvement Programme [HQIP]) to populate the NHFD. The NHFD data is processed by Crown Informatics Ltd on behalf of the FFFAP. Crown Informatics will send limited patient-identifiable data (including NHS number, date of birth, postcode, gender, injury date, and a unique FFFAP ID) to NHS Digital. NHS Digital in turn will match the NHFD records to patients’ HES and CRD data before returning these (together with the FFFAP ID but without the other sensitive fields, e.g. NHS number) to Crown Informatics. Similarly, NHS Wales Informatics Service will use limited patient-identifiable data (including NHS number and a unique FFFAP ID) to match the NHFD records to patients’ PEDW before returning these (together with the FFFAP ID but without the other sensitive fields, e.g. NHS number) to Crown Informatics.
From data we receive from Crown Informatics we will know the age and gender of these patients, what hospital they went to and what they went to hospital for. We will not know who the patient is, nor their name or address, or any other information which could be used to accurately identify them. The data we receive are ’pseudonymised’ which means we may have applied a ‘key’ or unique reference to a participant, the originators of the data are still able to match that reference back to an individual. This study does not involve any automated decision-making or profiling.
Legal basis for processing
For NHFD, HES and PEDW data are under Section 251 NHS Act 2006; Article 6(1) (e) - processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest; and Article 9(2) (j)- processing necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and interests of the data subject.
Sharing
These data will be stored in a safe and secure way and only accessed by specific members of the research team. The data will only be used to study the NHS and not used commercially. The data are not shared.
Retention
At the completion of the research the data will be archived and retained in line with the funding body policies. The retention period is until: 01/10/2023
Your rights
Legislation gives you the right to see what information an organisation stores about you and request copies of it as well as other rights in respect of the processing of your personal data.
You can find out more about these rights, when they might apply and how to exercise them in your data protection rights here: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/data-protection/policy/research-participant-fair-processing-notice/.
Opt out
If you would like to opt out and not have your data used for this type of research, please contact:
Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, FFFAP (NHFD data): NHFD@rcplondon.ac.uk
NHS Digital (HES data): enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk
NHS Wales Informatics Service (PEDW data): PHW.InformationGovernance@wales.nhs.uk
More information on opting out can be found on the NHFD website:
https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/fffap-data-processing-statements
NHS Digital website: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out-programme
NHS Wales Informatics Service website: https://nwis.nhs.wales/use-of-site/privacy-policy/"
In addition the University of Bristol provide fair processing information via websites at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/data-protection/policy/research-participant-fair-processing-notice/
Fair processing information is given to patients participating in NHFD by their enrolling hospitals and https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/fffap-data-processing-statements.
Data Protection Officer
The University is required to have a data protection officer who can be contacted if you have any queries, concerns or complaints about the way your personal data is processed. The University of Bristol’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) is Henry Stuart:
Henry Stuart
Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer
University Secretary's Office
University of Bristol
Beacon House
Queens Road
Bristol, BS8 1QU
Tel: 0117 39 41824
The Information Commissioner’s office is responsible for regulating data protection in the UK. We hope to resolve any of your questions, queries or concerns but if you remain dissatisfied you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/