Purposes for which the personal data is processed

It is a legal requirement for a birth in England to be notified to a relevant body. The birth notification enables the necessary information about the birth, to be collected, processed and made available to health providers so that they can offer appropriate support to both mothers and babies.

Typically, midwives or doctors attending a birth will complete the notification, however, women have the legal right to give birth without a healthcare professional present; this is known as an unassisted birth.

Where no registered healthcare professional is present at the birth, the responsibility for the notification falls to the child’s father (if present) or any other person attending the mother at the time of birth or within six hours afterward. This notification must be made within 36 hours of a birth to either NHS England, an integrated care board (ICB), or a local authority (LA).

NHS England has responsibility to commission the Child Health Information Services (CHIS) in England. These Services currently use a birth notification to create a CHIS record for the baby. Where an unassisted birth has taken place, it can be confusing for families to know how to complete the notification and who to send it to.

As a relevant body authorised to receive the birth notification because of an unassisted birth, NHS England have commissioned an existing CHIS provider to receive notifications on their behalf, from anywhere in England and to process them so that the relevant health services are informed about the birth.

South Central West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW CSU), operating as part of NHS England, will be the nominated CHIS and will therefore be processing the personal information contained in the birth notification as the relevant body and on behalf of NHS England.

Controller of the personal data

NHS England is the controller for the personal data being processed for the purposes of receiving, recording, and disseminating information reported through an unassisted birth notification.

Compliance with an Article 6 condition in the UK GDPR

The UKGDPR Article 6(1)(c) provides a lawful basis for processing where:

“Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.”

Birth notification is a legal requirement under Section 269 of the NHS Act 2006, National Health Service Act 2006 describes the requirements for reporting of births where no medical professional is present.

In addition, Article 6 (1) (e) provides a lawful basis for processing where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller. CHIS providers are commissioned by NHS England under the most up to date NHS public health functions agreement 2024 to 2025 – GOV.UK and therefore the nominated CHIS will be acting under this agreement on behalf of NHS England to exercise functions of the Secretary of State in sections 2A, 2B and 12 of the 2006 NHS Act to provide section 7A services. Where NHS England exercises these functions, they are referred to as ‘public health functions.’

In exercising the public health functions referred to above, NHS England must comply with the public sector equality duty (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010).

Types of personal data processed

• Baby’s full name, or “Baby [Surname]” if a name has not yet been decided upon
• Date and time of birth
• Address where the birth occurred
• Mother’s address (if different to above)
• Name of the parent(s)
• Sex of the baby
• Name of any other person present with 6 hours of birth
• Email address of the person making the notification

How the personal data is obtained

An unassisted birth notification is a self-declaration and will be sent to a dedicated e-mail address by the person making the notification. SCW CSU will receive this information.

How the personal data is processed

SCW CSU will acknowledge the e-mail notification in the form of a ‘digital postcard’ which will be sent to the person who made the notification by e-mail. This will provide proof that the relevant body has been notified of the birth. The person who made the notification can then use that confirmation to have the birth registered by their local registrar of births and deaths.

SCW CSU will store the information received via the birth notification within their CHIS recording system which is called CarePlus Child Health and is provided by an organisation called SystemC.

The CHIS receiving the notification as the responsible CHIS provider for the child will create and maintain a record for that child in their own local recording system. This will either be CarePlus Child Health or the SystmOne IT system provided by The Phoenix Partnership (TPP)

SCW CSU will not generate an NHS number when recording the birth notification following an unassisted birth.

Sharing the personal data

SCW CSU will share the birth notification with the CHIS that is responsible for that child either due to its address or registered GP. The receiving CHIS Provider will share the personal data with local health providers for the purposes of offering health care to the child where this is relevant. The local health providers include.

• GPs
• Newborn (neonatal) hearing screening providers
• Newborn blood spot providers
• Independent midwives
• Maternity departments
• Safeguarding teams
• Local authorities (children services)
• School-age vaccination providers
• School nurses
• Health visitor providers
• Other CHIS located outside the region (supporting children as they move around).

Where a relevant Data Sharing Agreement is in place, SCW CSU will also share the birth notification with the relevant ICB or LA as they are also relevant bodies for the purposes of the notification.

Under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 each local authority has a legal obligation to:

• Be aware of children residing in its area
• Investigate cases of children missing from education and ensure children not receiving statutory provision are receiving an adequate education
• Undertake planning and development of services for children and young people

NHS England has a statutory responsibility under the Children Act 2004, Care Act 2014 and safeguarding provision within the Data Protection Act 2018 (Schedule 1, Part 2, Subsections 18 and 19) to ensure the safety of all children, and the safety of adults at risk of physical, mental or emotional harm and will share information to support this where this is appropriate.

How long the personal data is kept

The CHIS service will retain your personal data for the period of time identified in accordance with the relevant – Records Management Code of Practice – NHS Transformation Directorate (england.nhs.uk) which will depend on the type of record the data is held in.  This is likely to be until a child reaches the age of 25.

Other organisations with whom we share your personal data have obligations to keep it for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which we have shared your personal data. Information about this will be in their transparency or privacy notices which are published on their websites.

Where the data is stored

We store and process the personal data within the United Kingdom but where our Processors need to process your personal data outside of the UK, we will always ensure that the transfer outside of the UK complies with data protection laws.

Unidentifiable statistical data may be processed outside of the UK.

Your rights over the personal data

To read more about the information we collect, our legal basis for collecting this information and what choices and rights you have, see – NHS England » NHS England as a data controller.

How to access the information held within a CHIS record

CHIS providers collect certain information from health and care organisations providing care to your child and would advise contacting your GP directly for a more complete record of their care or treatment.

If you would like a copy of the information held on the SCW CHIS in relation to an unassisted birth notification or have any queries or concerns about how SCW CHIS processes the notification, please send your request using the contact details below:

Address:

SCW CHIS Information Team
4th Floor, South Side
Burlington House
Crosby Road North
Liverpool
L22 0QB

Telephone: 0300 561 1850
Email: scwcsu.chis.administration@nhs.net

SCW is a Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) hosted by NHS England.

The Data Protection Officer for NHS England is Jon Moore. The contact details for the office of the DPO are: england.dpo@nhs.net

Independent advice and complaints

For independent advice and complaints about data protection, privacy, and data-sharing issues, please contact:

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Phone: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745
Website: ico.org.uk