Timeline

Hi guys,

Hope you're all good.  I am trying to work through the timeline task so that we have some info to work with at tomorrows meeting - must admit I have hit a bit of a wall with a couple remaining still to look at.  I wanted to share what I had done as hopefully it is of some use for our meeting tomorrow!  Any: criticisms; corrections; further info; tips and help are gratefully received!

See you all tomorrow :)

1984 Data Protection Act

“An act to regulate the use of automatically processed information relating to individuals and the provision of services in respect of such information” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown). 

This act was revised in 1998 that resulted in the NHS having to provide their patients with information held about them.

1985 Local Government (Access to Information) Act

“An act to provide greater public access to local authority meetings, reports and documents subject to specified confidentiality provisions; to give local authorities duties to publish certain information and for related purposes” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

Within the NHS this should be known so that appropriate notes can be taken and then written so that the information is accessible when or requested.  Before this law access didn’t have to be given to the public.

1987 Access to Personal Files Act

“An Act to provide access for individuals to information relating to themselves maintained by certain authorities and to allow individuals to obtain copies of, and require amendment of, such information” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

This has resulted an NHS patients being able to request files that contain information about themselves and if necessary having someone explain the meaning to them.  Previously this content would not have been made available.  If information was contained regarding another party this would have to be removed or blanked out.

1988 Access to Medical Records Act

“An Act to establish a right of access by individuals to reports relating to themselves provided by medical practitioners for employment or insurance purposes and to make provision for related matters” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

If your patient was looking to take out insurance, or a new employment appointment, then a third party company may request a copy of records.  Consent from the patient should be given in order to disclose the information.  Previously this content would not have been made available.

1988 Environment and Safety Information Act

“An Act to establish public registers of certain notices served concerning health, safety and environmental protection; and for related purposes” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

This act resulted in all NHS workers taking responsibility to prevent injury and accidents.  An on-site and of-site emergency plan should be in place and this information should be given to visitors, without them having to request it.  These plans should undergo reviews and testing.  We should be conscientious of these actions and relaying information when meeting with patients.

1988 Land Registration Act

“An Act to amend section 112 of the Land Registration Act 1925, and for connected purposes” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

The original 1925 act is described as:

“An Act to consolidate the Land Transfer Acts and the statute law relating to registered land” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

As NHS staff we would have to be aware of these types of requests and direct them to the relevant person.

1989 Official Secrets Act

“An Act to replace section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 by provisions protecting more limited classes of official information.” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

This law essentially means that anyone who comes across information that could be seen to be useful by enemies of the state must not pass this information on.  As an NHS worker you could directly treat a VIP as a patient and therefore have knowledge of weakness of an important figure that could not be disclosed.  You may also acquire information that relates to specific vaccination stocks or a lack in treatment or research for a specific area.  This information could not be passed onto any third party for threat of chemical weapons.  Although staff would always be covered by patient confidentiality they may want to talk about a specifically “special” patient and would not realise perhaps where this information could go.

1990 Access to Health Records Act

“An Act to establish a right of access to health records by the individuals to whom they relate and other persons; to provide for the correction of inaccurate health records and for the avoidance of certain contractual obligations; and for the connected purposes.” (Smale, 2015).

This act has become a bit out dated with the revision of the Data Protection Act, but it did allow people access to their medical records.  Before this law NHS could have disregarded a request for medical records.

1990 Environment Protection Act

The general message of this law was:

“An Act to make provision for the improved control of pollution arising from certain industrial and other processes…to amend the Radioactive Substances Act 1960… to amend the provisions of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 as regards the dumping of waste at sea” (www.legislation.gov.uk, unknown).

Before this law passed an NHS worker may not have been so aware that waste would have to be disposed of in a certain conscientious manner.  This law would not only protect the environment but also protect the general public from potential hazardous waste that could make them very unwell.  This is probably demonstrated by the appearance of yellow sharps bins.

1992 Environmental Information Regulations Act

This act allows any person to request information regarding any environmental matter.  The request must be replied to as soon as possible and no longer than two months should elapse before a reply is provided.  Refusals can be given, but must be justified.  Reasonable charges can be put against the request.

“An access to environmental information regime has been in place since1992, in the form of the Environmental Information Regulations 1992,as amended by the Environmental Information (Amendment) Regulations 1998, and also the Environmental Information Regulations(Northern Ireland) 1993 and 1998. The introduction of replacement Regulations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (and of similar regulations in Scotland) enables compliance with the UK’s commitments under the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the “Aarhus” Convention), and with EU Directive 2003/4/EC.” (ICO, unknown).

Increased access to environmental information provides the public with information to discuss, have an educated contribution to public environmental issues and decision making.  This supports the governments’ openness in the public sector (ICO, unknown). 

1994 Open Government Code of Practice

This law details that Ministers and Public Servants must justify policies, decisions made and actions taken to the public.  It is to encourage a more open system so that information can be accessed by the public and analysed (Gov UK, unknown).

This law would be aimed at making things more transparent for the public and also has the consequence that if the public can access information then the people responsible must be able to justify their actions.  Within the NHS this would make people more accountable for actions taken and allows people to query why certain actions were taken.  In the past points for debate or query may have gone unnoticed.  It would encourage staff to have to be more conscientious and take ownership of things they have done.

1995 Code of Practice on Openness in the NHS

This law was introduced setting out basic principles underlying public access to NHS information.  This information includes: services provided; the cost of these services, and performance against targets.  Information is also given on any proposed changes and opportunity given to influence decisions regarding these changes (Bynoe, 1996).

This law would result in NHS staff having to reply to requests in a timely and positive manner.  They would have to let the public know what information they are able to access so the public can make an informed decision as to whether they would like to view any information.  The staff would therefore need to know where to direct these queries and requests.  Also there would have to be a clear and effective complaints procedure that is clearly advertised.  Resulting in someone having to be tasked with monitoring this and dealing with effectively (Bynoe, 1996).

1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act

2000 Local Government Act

2000 Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to information) (England) Regulations

Bibliography

Bynoe, I. (1996). Beyond the Citizen's Charter: New Directions for Social Rights. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.

Gov UK. (unknown, unknown unknown). Retrieved 11 16, 2015, from www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271975/2290.pdf

ICO. (unknown, unknown unknown). Retrieved 11 16, 2015, from ICO: https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1644/environmental_information_regulations_code_of_practice.pdf

Smale, T. (2015, 11 12). IT for Health Professionals. Course Material . Keele, Staffordshire, England: Unknown.

www.legislation.gov.uk. (unknown, unknown unknown). Retrieved 11 15, 2015, from www.legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/35/contents