The GM Care Record for Secondary Uses & Research

How de-identified patient information is used for research during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sharing your patient information is critical in supporting your care and treatment, especially in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This is where the GM Care Record comes in.

However the GM Care Record is not just about care and treatment – it also provides the mechanism by which citizens’ de-identified health and care data related to COVID-19 can be used for research and secondary use purposes.

Greater Manchester has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Likewise, there are  communities within GM that have been disproportionately affected. The use of deidentified patient data for research will help us to understand this and how we can improve GM’s health and care response to the pandemic and ultimately to improve the care of our citizens.

What is classed as secondary uses and research?

  • Understanding COVID-19 trends and risks to public health
  • Controlling and preventing the spread of COVID-19
  • Identifying and understanding information about patients or potential patients with, or at risk of, COVID19
  • Delivering services to patients, clinicians, the health services
  • Planning in relation to COVID-19
  • Research in relation to COVID-19

The legal basis for use of the data is defined in the national Control of Patient Information (COPI) notice, which gives NHS organisations a legal requirement to share data for the purposes of the COVID-19 response.

In addition to this legal requirement, very strict controls exist and a thorough governance process has been established in Greater Manchester to ensure full transparency over who can access the data and that this use of the data is both legal and ethical. More information on this is in the diagram below.

Further information about each of the governance groups is available on the links below. These detail the purpose of each of the groups and the decisions that are being made:

National Data Opt-Out

The national data opt-out is a national service that allows patients to opt out of the information being used for research and planning purposes.

If you don’t want your patient information used in this way, please the website below to find out more, or to opt-out:

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