What is Population Health Management?

This work is aimed at improving the health of an entire population.

It is about improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people and making sure that access to services is fair and equal. It helps to reduce the occurrence of ill-health and looks at all the wider factors that affect health and care.

The project requires health care organisations to work together with communities and partner agencies. The organisations will share information with each other in order to get a view of health and services for the population in a particular area.

In your area, a population health management programme has been introduced. The programme will combine information from GP practices, community service providers, hospitals and other health and care providers.

How Will my Personal Data be Used?

The information will include information about your health care.

The information will be combined and anything that can identify you (like your name or NHS Number) will be removed and replaced with a code.

This means that the people working with the data will only see the code and cannot see which patient the information relates to.

If we see that an individual might benefit from some additional care or support, we will send the information back to your GP or hospital provider and they will use the code to identify you and offer you services.

The information will be used for a number of healthcare related activities such as;

• improving the quality and standards of care provided
• research into the development of new treatments
• preventing illness and diseases
• monitoring safety
• planning services

Who Will My Personal Data Be Shared With?

Your GP and hospital providers will send the information they hold on their systems to the North of England Commissioning Support Unit, who are part of NHS England.

They will link all the information together in order to review and make decisions about the whole population or particular patients that might need support.

The Commissioning Support Unit use a company called Optum to help them with this work.

Both the Commissioning Support Unit and Optum are required to protect your information and maintain confidentiality in the same way that your doctor or hospital provider is.

Is Using My Information in This Way Lawful?

Health Care Providers are permitted by data protection law to use information where it is ‘necessary for medical purposes’. This includes caring for you directly as well as management of health services more generally.

Some of the work that happens at a national level with your information is required by other parts of the law. For more information, speak to our Data Protection Officer.

Sharing and using your information in this way helps to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law and in the majority of cases, anonymised data is used so that you cannot be identified.

What will Happen to My Information When the Project is Finished?

Once the 20-week programme has completed the information will be securely destroyed.

Can I Object?

You have a right to object to information being used in this way.

You also have a number of other information rights. See our main privacy policy for more information.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters.