Your information

Confidentiality affects everyone: Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust collects, stores and uses large amounts of personal data every day, such as

• medical records
• personal records
• computerised information

This data is used by many people in the course of their work.

We take our duty to protect your personal information and confidentiality very seriously and we are committed to taking all reasonable measures to ensure the confidentiality and security of personal data for which we are responsible, whether computerised or on paper.

At Trust Board level, we have appointed a Senior Information Risk Owner who is accountable for the management of all information assets and any associated risks and incidents, and a Caldicott Guardian* who is responsible for the management of patient information and patient confidentiality.

* Caldicott Guardians are experts on confidentiality issues and access to patient records. Dame Fiona Caldicott recommended such posts in her 1997 report into how patient information was used (and should be protected) in the health service, and in its increasingly complex information systems: "A senior person, preferably a health professional, should be nominated in each health organisation to act as a guardian, responsible for safeguarding the confidentiality of patient information."