Maternity services privacy notice

Purpose and legal basis for processing your information

We collect information about you (your personal data) for the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS), to help achieve better outcomes of care for mothers, babies and children. The data set collects information about the mother’s demographics (e.g. postcode, date of birth, ethnic category), booking, diagnosis and admission details, as well as details about screenings and tests and labour/delivery. The data set also collects details about the baby’s demographics (e.g. date and time of birth, sex) and relevant tests prior to discharge from maternity services.

Our lawful basis for processing this data under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18) is: 

6(1)(c) – Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. And;

9(2)(h) – Processing is necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine, for assessing the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or a contract with a health professional.

DPA18 – Schedule 1, Part 1 (2) (2) (f).

What we do with your information

The data is securely sent to NHS Digital which is the central organisation that receives the same data from all NHS-funded maternity services across England. NHS Digital removes all identifying details and combines the data we send with the data sent by other care providers, forming the MSDS.

The data set is used to produce anonymised reports that only show summary numbers of, for instance, patients referred to different maternity services. It is impossible to identify any individual patient in the reports, but the reports do help us to improve the care we provide to you and other patients.

No information that could reveal your identity is used in national reports.

The benefits of the MSDS to you as a patient include:

• making sure maternity services are available to all patients and measuring the respective care delivered
• better care, through monitoring progress to allow future services to enable maternity care provided is mother and child-centric
• informing patients about the care offered at different hospitals
• more personalised and better organised care for patients through understanding what care is needed nationally, for example understanding how the antenatal care provided can affect outcomes for both mother and baby

The data held in the MSDS may also be linked to data held by NHS Digital from various other data sets and collections, including (but not limited to) the Community Services Data Set (CSDS) and Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS). The MSDS data may also be linked to external data sources such as Office for National Statistics (ONS) data and data from the National Neonatal Data Set. More information about the data sets and collections that NHS Digital hold and that may be used for linkage can be found on the NHS Digital website.

Linkage is carried out in order to investigate the relationship between care in maternity services and subsequent activity, such as health visiting and school nursing activity, as well as referrals to neonatal units, mental health services and other services.

For more information about how NHS Digital uses your personal data including their lawful basis for processing, how long they hold it for and your rights, please see their website.

To manage your choice about how your confidential patient information is used beyond your own individual care, please visit the following website.

Alternatively, you can call 0300 303 5678.

How long we keep your data for

We only keep information for as long as necessary. We retain information in accordance with the schedules set out in the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016 . It sets out what people working with or in NHS organisations in England need to do to manage records correctly. It is based on current legal requirements and professional best practice.

What are your rights?

You have a right to object to the processing (use) of your personal data in some circumstances by contacting [email protected]. There are legitimate reasons why we may refuse your objection, which depend on why we are processing it. This will not affect your treatment in any way.

You can also make a subject access request for information that we hold about you. All patients have the right to request a copy of their own records.

It should be understood that in data protection law nothing can be erased from a health record but a correction may be added and a copy given to you. If you feel that there are mistakes or inaccuracies in your health record.

Making a complaint

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your information, or if you require this information in another language or format, please contact our patient advice and liaison service at:

Telephone: 01279 827211
Email: [email protected]

You also have a right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time. Their contact details are: ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.