Information governance and Data Services

Data Services works closely with the NHS England Information Governance team to ensure that the information held in our data warehouse is pseudonymised and anonymised correctly, this makes certain patient confidentiality and privacy is maintained. Before any data is released to NHS England analysts, strict rules and procedures are applied to it in accordance with best practice and governance protocols. It is only once this process has been completed that our analytical teams will produce good quality outputs, which are shared with a variety of organisations and stakeholders ensuring suppression rules are adhered to.

Complying with information governance

Management of the NHS is dependent on understanding the needs of patients. Ensuring that patient data is processed appropriately, in accordance with the law and in-line with patient expectations, is the key to upholding the trust placed in all NHS employees in the course of fulfilling their duties.

Whilst the information governance landscape is complex, several resources exist which aim to provide clear guidance on the responsible and lawful use of data. This guidance aims to simplify and support the use of data to enable improvements to NHS services and the care delivered to patients.

The information governance resources consist of:

• Legal basis and statutory duties supporting commissioning.
• IG Frameworks and documentation required to support commissioning data flows.
• Up-to-date information on Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) applications.
• Risk Stratification Register.
• Controlled Environment for Finance (CEfF) Register.
• Guide to GDPR.
• Encryption guidance for health and care organisations.
• NHS Digital Information Governance Alliance web page which provides further guidance and support.

These link to other resources and in particular to the Information Governance Alliance (IGA) whose mission is to “enhance the quality of health and care services, including people’s experience of using those services, by improving information governance”.