But the company says the announcement, which coincides with the publication of the Health & Social Care Information Centre's (HSCIC) guide to confidentiality in health and social care, is just the latest step in the long journey towards electronic healthcare - and has urged healthcare stakeholders to work collaboratively to drive a culture of privacy throughout the NHS and ensure that the Caldicott2 recommendations are fully implemented within 12 months.
The Caldicott report was first published in April 2013, following an independent review into how information about individuals is shared across the health and social care system. FairWarningwas highly supportive of the original recommendations and is therefore extremely encouraged by the government’s decision to endorse all of the review's proposals.
FairWarning shares the government's view that effective information sharing will not only lead to better health outcomes, but it will also improve care pathways and enhance the patient experience. The company wholly supports the finding that there is no contradiction between increasing data sharing for care and improving the safeguards for personal confidential data.
However, electronic healthcare can only succeed if patients feel in greater control of their personal confidential information and are confident that the NHS is ensuring that information is secure, protected and shared appropriately. As such, moves to harness the power of information must be underpinned by robust information governance and information risk management processes that protect patient confidentiality.
Tim Dunn, General Manager for FairWarning UK commented: "Tools to help NHS professionals provide transparency on who is accessing patient records, and enabling trusts to monitor access proactively, are readily available and being successfully deployed in parts of the UK. We welcome that, in its response to Calidicott2, the government has acknowledged the implementation of privacy breach monitoring in Scotland. We believe that the full implementation of these recommendations could bring the rest of the UK to the high standard levels achieved in NHS Scotland, and ensure information assurance for UK trusts."
FairWarning considers the government's guidelines an important framework to ensure transparency and accountability for patient privacy. However, the company also believes the NHS' ability to implement the recommendations will be pivotal to the expansion of trust in digital healthcare.
Tim Dunn concluded: "It is now critical that Dame Fiona’s recommendations are implemented in a timely fashion, in line with the deadlines set out in the Caldicott Review and the response of the Department of Health (DH). Jeremy Hunt’s ambitions for electronic healthcare rely on executing this plan and protecting patient privacy will be at the heart of those efforts.
"The development of electronic healthcare models will indeed require both a step change and a concerted effort at national and local level. The time to act is now and FairWarning looks forward to supporting the DH and its partners in achieving these important goals."
About Caldicott2
The independent Information Governance Review led by Dame Fiona Caldicott, entitled 'Information: to share or not to share?' and also known as Caldicott2, was set up in February 2012 and delivered its final report and recommendations in April 2013. The aim of the review was to advise on how to achieve a better balance between protecting and sharing confidential personal information. The review produced a set of 7 revised "Caldicott Principles" and 26 specific recommendations. Dame Fiona will now chair an independent panel to oversee and scrutinise implementation of the review's recommendations and to provide advice on information governance issues.
About FairWarning, Inc.
FairWarning empowering care providers to grow their reputation for protecting confidentiality, scale their digital
health initiatives and comply with complex privacy laws. By partnering with FairWarning, care providers are able to direct their focus on delivering the best patient outcomes possible while receiving expert, sustainable and affordable privacy and compliance solutions. Customers consider FairWarning such as ARRA HITECH privacy and meaningful use criteria, HIPAA, UK and EU Data Protection, and Canadian provincial healthcare privacy law.