Today has been published the update to the Intra-NHS Scotland Information Sharing Accord (2020), which comes into effect across NHS Scotland organisations from the 22 June 2020.
This Accord re-enforces the spirit of our duties as Data Controllers within the NHS Scotland, and our recognition that the duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality. This Accord brings once more the patient at the centre of the NHS Scotland by enabling the fair, lawful and secure flow data along with the patient journey.
The opportunity of this update is also relevant in our battle against COVID, in particular in support to the data flows across the NHS Scotland necessary for the operation of the National Contact Tracing Centre.
This Accord does not change the obligations of Data Controllers in discharging their data protection responsibilities.
Formal instruction through a Director Letter (DL(2020)17) has been sent today to Chief Executives and communications have followed to Senior Information Risk Owners and IG colleagues across the NHS Scotland.