“
”
Information governance is a major enabler in the day to day functioning of all health and care organisations as they process, store and access masses of personal data each and every day. The appropriate use of data is enshrined in laws such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and soon the General Data Protection Regulation (May 2018) and affects how the information we gather about individuals can be used.
As organisations work more closely together to define future delivery models for care, the first hurdle is often the arrangements for governing the sharing and use of data. This becomes magnified when looking to utilise workforce or activity data to inform decision making and modelling, as per the WRaPT process, as we must take into account the legal protections afforded to different data types and who it is (the data subjects) they relate to.
Working across the UK, our team has encountered and overcome many of the common hurdles that organisations experience such as: looking to collect data for the first time, using new sources of data or are planning to share data with partners in the health and care environment.
Using our expertise in both workforce transformation and the information governance environment the WRaPT team can work with you to:
- Define a succinct goal and define the need for any sharing of data. This enables the project team to clearly articulate the necessity of the data as well as the relevant benefits this will bring.
- Identify the data requirements and use minimisation techniques. We can work with you to understand what these are to ensure data is collated at the most appropriate level to carry out the project and deliver a quality outcome, and also protect the rights of all data subjects
- Establish procedures and practices to manage the storage, transmission, processing and deletion of data throughout the project
- Communicate with all relevant parties ensuring clarity on what they are being asked to provide and why
- Engage with Information Governance representatives from the relevant sharing organisations / parties to define and create data sharing agreements using their preferred method which meet all technical and legal requirements
This will enable you to collect and process the data that you need for your project, whilst ensuring this is done safely, fairly and legally at all times.
Our preferred tool for managing appropriate information governance and data sharing agreements is the Information Sharing Gateway (ISG) which is an online application that we use to set up data flows and agreements in a consistent and more streamlined way. More information on the ISG tool can be found here.
To find out how the WRaPT team can assist your project to share data and work collaboratively, contact us
