Practices using GP Connect are required to take action by 18 September to satisfy a newly launched National Data Sharing Arrangement (NDSA) governing its use.
GP Connect allows authorised clinical staff to securely share GP records and data between IT systems to support patient care. The digital platform was first piloted in 2018, then rolled out during the pandemic.
Last July, NHS England said the service would continue since it had ‘improved patient safety and been positively received by patients and healthcare professionals’.
The new NDSA sets out the data-sharing requirements and obligations for using GP Connect, ratifying the safe sharing of clinical information. It also details the actions and guidance that users of the platform, such as practices, GP hubs and PCNs, need to follow.
The NDSA is endorsed by the RCGP, BMA, Information Commissioners Office, and National Data Guardian.
From 18 September 2023, any practices signing up to GP Connect for the first time are asked to review and sign the NDSA as part of their onboarding process.
GP Connect users who were live before 18 September 2023 are asked to review the NDSA through the NDSA sign-up portal. They must ensure they satisfy the actions outlined below but they don’t need to sign it.
GP Connect NDSA action checklist
- Ensure that transparency notices detailing this arrangement are made available to any potentially affected data subjects.
- Communicate with patients so they are aware the practice is sharing records via GP Connect.
- Ensure that patients are aware they can ppt out of their GP patient record being shared via GP Connect.
- Ensure that you are able to provide data subjects with an audit trail of access to their records upon request.
- Determine what personal data can be accessed and the manner and form in which a record can be shared.
