Caldicott Guardian as a Service
Following a public consultation by the National Data Guardian (stating an increased need for Caldicott Guardians across the wider health and social care sector), from 30th June 2023 all health and social care organisations handling confidential information are required to have a Caldicott Guardian in place.
For many social care providers this can be a daunting requirement, as they may not have an individual in place who holds the experience or knowledge to take on this highly responsible role, or the time and resources to appoint an internal member of staff to the Caldicott Guardian role.
Therefore, to support the sector to meet this expectation, Moore ClearComm is delighted to offer a Caldicott Guardian service that is designed to provide every health and social care provider with this key resource, available whenever you need us, and at an affordable fee.
How does it work?
A Caldicott Guardian from Moore ClearComm can play a key role in helping to ensure that organisations satisfy the highest ethical and legal standards for processing patient and service user confidential information.
Their main concern will be confidential information relating to patients, service users and their care. Day-to-day activities of your Caldicott Guardian will vary according to organisation type and size.
Caldicott Guardian activities may include:
- Advising on disclosures of confidential information
- Involvement with patient or service user complaints
- Reviewing and advising on data protection impact assessments, data sharing agreements, instructions to data processors
- Involvement in audit reporting or making recommendations
- Involvement in data breach investigations
To find out more about our Caldicott Guardian package or book an informal meeting with one of our team, please contact us today: care@mooreclear.com
What is a Caldicott Guardian?
The Caldicott Committee’s Report on the Review of Patient-Identifiable Information, recommended principles to be applied to the use of confidential patient and service user information in the NHS.
It also recommended that a senior person should be nominated in each health organisation to act as a guardian responsible for protecting the confidentiality of patient information and ensuring the principles were upheld. These principles became known as the Caldicott Principles, and the senior individuals responsible for ensuring the principles were upheld within their organisations became known as Caldicott Guardians.
A Caldicott Guardian is a senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people’s health and care information and making sure it is used properly.
All NHS organisations and local authorities which provide social services must have a Caldicott Guardian.
This includes organisations contracted by public bodies to deliver health or adult social care services that handle such information (such as care homes and/or domiciliary care providers).
Caldicott Principles:
| Principle 1: | Justify the purpose(s) for using confidential information |
| Principle 2: | Use confidential information only when it is necessary |
| Principle 3: | Use the minimum necessary confidential information |
| Principle 4: | Access to confidential information should be on a strict need-to-know basis |
| Principle 5: | Everyone with access to confidential information should be aware of their responsibilities |
| Principle 6: | Comply with the law |
| Principle 7: | Duty to share information for individual care, as important as the duty to protect confidentiality |
| Principle 8: | Inform patients and service users about how their confidential information is used |
Want to know more?
Contact us today: care@mooreclear.com
