NHS and social care services have a legal basis to share your information for your care or treatment or to share data from medical records for planning or research. They do not have to ask for your permission to do this, but where your data is used in this way, it will not normally contain information that you can be identified from.
You can find more information on the legal basis for sharing your information here.
However, you have the right to object to your information being shared.
- If you do not want your information shared by health and care services who are giving you care and treatment you should contact the NHS or social care service that holds your record. Sharing your information can help make it quicker and easier to make sure that you get the right treatment at the right time.
- If you do not want data from your health and care records shared for reasons such as planning and improving services or research into new cures and treatments you can object online or by telephone through the national data opt-out service. There are no direct consequences to you of objecting to your data being shared for planning or research but sharing it can help find new ways of preventing other people becoming unwell or to develop new medicines, cures or treatments.
You cannot choose which information is shared. You can change your mind about objecting to your information being shared at any time.