All of the legislation and codes
of practices carry almost the same messages - which is personal and sensitive
information must be processed lawfully and stored securely, so that it does not
get lost, damaged, unauthorised access, unauthorised alteration and accidental
destruction.
Therefore, health and social care
service provider must follow the legislation and codes of practices when
handling personal data and sensitive information. Personal data must be collected
in guideline with Data protection act and other legislations. It must be
processed safely and stored securely. It is a best practice to keep personal
data in locked file cabinet. If it is stored in computer then it must be kept
password protected to avoid unauthorised access.
Personal data must not be
disclosed without the person’s authorisation. Safety of the data must be ensured
while exchanging with agreed others such as right person, right email address
and right fax number etc. The Data Protection
Act gives individuals the right to access information held about them except in
certain situations where public safety, security and health are at risk.
