Product Description

NHS trusts use this Product to support and improve their cancer care pathway and to provide you with the best care within the most appropriate timeframe in relation to the procedure or treatment you are being provided by the hospital.

The Product enables care teams in the hospital to identify the actions they can take to ensure that your procedure or treatment can be scheduled and carried out smoothly. Only members of your care team will have access to your personal information in identifiable form in the Product to provide you with care.

Within this Product there is also information provided to service managers within the NHS trust in aggregated form* to support the improvement of the service and ensure delays in care are highlighted and addressed. This is called the Cancer Operations Centre, which details the Service Overview and a Team Performance overview, allowing escalation of delays and to support the Healthcare Professionals involved in your care improve this service.

*Aggregated data is counts of data presented as statistics so that data cannot directly or indirectly identify an individual.

What are the purposes for processing my personal data in this Product?

This Product processes personal information (called ‘personal data’ under data protection laws) about patients are receiving care or testing on a cancer care pathway, this Product supports the management of the pathways for patients from point of referral with suspected cancer through to referral for treatment or communication that no cancer has been identified. This includes information about your health, medical condition and the testing, procedure or treatment. The Product enables your care team in the hospital to more effectively coordinate your treatment and care.

The use of the Product by NHS trusts will improve the delivery of cancer care pathway and treatment through better use of the information that the hospital holds. This will include bringing together all required information into one place to support your care in relation to your referral, testing and treatment plan/procedures.

The Product enables your care team to identify the actions they can take to improve and speed up your care pathway. NHS trusts will use this Product to provide you with the best care within the most appropriate timeframe. This will also help hospitals to improve their waiting lists times for cancer testing and treatment, following the increase in waiting times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What personal data about me is processed in this Product?

Personal data which directly identifies you (we call this directly identifiable data) will be processed by NHS trusts about patients who are having planned treatment scheduled, for the purposes above. Data that is processed by hospitals that use this Product may include your:

• name
• telephone number (mobile and home)
• date of birth
• age
• NHS number or hospital record number
• health information, including information about your medical condition, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

Personal data about members of staff involved in the delivery of care may also be processed when using this Product, including the names of staff involved in providing care, their email address, their role/profession and planned absence information, so that your treatment can be scheduled.

Who is my personal data shared with?

Your personal data is accessed and used by health care professionals in the hospital who are providing you with individual care and treatment, and support staff who need to support health care professionals to administer your care journey.

Your personal data will not be shared with any other organisations as part of this Product.

UK GDPR Information

Controllers of your personal data

Under data protection law the NHS trusts using the Product are the legal controllers of your personal data under data protection laws. The specific NHS trusts using the Product are listed on the Product Description page of the NHS England website here.

Legal grounds for processing your personal data

The processing of personal data by NHS trusts for the purposes explained above is permitted under the following legal grounds under data protection law (this is UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018)):

• Public Task – Article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR ‘necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.
• Health Care – Article 9(2)(h) of UK GDPR ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…”  In addition, the legal grounds under paragraph 2 of Part 1 of the DPA 2018 apply (health care purposes).

The personal data processed about patients by the NHS trust for the purposes above is also confidential data. As the NHS trust is processing your confidential data to provide you with individual care, it is relying on your implied consent to do this, as you would reasonably expect the hospital to process your personal information this way to provide you with care. The NHS trust will keep your personal data confidential and only use and share it with other members of the care team to provide you with care, where you would reasonably expect them to, and subject to strict confidentiality controls to ensure your information remains confidential.

Processor acting on behalf of NHS trusts

The data platform contractor, Palantir Technologies UK LTD is a processor acting on behalf of the NHS trusts who are using this Product. They provide the data platform and the technology that the Product uses and only act on the instructions of the NHS trust.

Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the following rights under UK GDPR in relation to the processing of your personal data by the NHS trust for the purposes above:

• Right to be informed
• Right of access
• Right to rectify
• Right to object

Further information about these rights is in the NHS Federated Data Platform Privacy Notice. Your NHS trust will also have a Privacy Notice on its own website which will explain more about how the trust processes your personal data, your rights and how to exercise them.

Contact details for data protection officers in the NHS trusts using this Product.

Does the National Data Opt Out or any other opt out apply to this Product?

The National Data Opt Out and Type 1 Opt Outs do not apply to the processing of your personal data by the NHS trust for the purposes explained above. This is because the NHS trust is processing your personal data to provide you with individual care and treatment and these opt-outs don’t apply in these circumstances.

More information

For more information about how personal data is processed within the Federated Data Platform please see the NHS Federated Data Platform Privacy Notice.

Last updated date: 24 May 2024