ChilCaldicott

Caldicott Review

I don’t know. You wait and wait for an important, much-delayed report to be published and then suddenly, like buses, two come along together.

Yet tempted as I am by the thought of reading and commenting on all seventeen sections and twelve volumes of Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq Inquiry report, I’m more taken by the latest offering from Dame Fiona Caldicott, our National Data Guardian for Health and Care. Read More…

In Transition

Following the changes to the commissioning landscape in April, with the disbanding of PCTs and the creation of CCGs, there has been an ongoing semi-public discussion regarding the use of Personal, Confidential Data (PCD) by commissioners.

To recap, for those who haven’t been following the story: It seems there is no basis in law for CCGs – nor the CSUs supporting them, nor indeed NHS England – to process identifiable patient data for commissioning purposes. The only body which can legally do so is the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). So to enable record linking and data management activities in support of commissioning to continue, outposts of the HSCIC have been defined, providing “Data Services for Commissioning.” They are charged with delivering linked, pseudonymised data for commissioning purposes to CSUs and CCGs. Read More…