Prescriptions Privacy Notice

Our policy

A new data privacy law will be introduced in the UK in May 2018. As a result, we’ve published a new privacy notice to make it easier for you to find out how the NHS Business Services Authority uses and protects your prescription information.

Your doctor or pharmacist sends your prescriptions to us after dispensing your medical products to you, as stated on the prescription form. We manage the information on the forms as required by Data Protection law and we use it to:

• pay the organisation providing you with medical products
• secure effective and efficient delivery of NHS services
• analyse general trends to support more effective planning of NHS services
• check for fraud and mistakes, including checking claims you make for help with NHS charges. If we can't confirm you're entitled to help, you may be sent a Penalty Charge Notice
• monitor the safety of new medicines

To prevent, detect and investigate fraud and errors, we may share your information with:

• NHS Counter Fraud Authority
• The Department for Work and Pensions
• HM Revenue and Customs
• Veterans UK
• NHS Commissioners and service providers

We’ll only share information that can identify you with those directly involved in your NHS care or reviewing your NHS care, those who have a legal right to it and those who you have given us permission to share it with.

We also share information with Public Health England to help them protect and improve the health of the population of England. You can only be identified from this information where Public Health England have the legal power to do so. We share patient identifiable information for new medicines with the Drug Safety Research Unit at Southampton University. They have a legal right to this. They will contact your GP to ask for your permission to take part in the medicine safety study. If you do not want to take part, your information will be deleted.

You can find out more about your rights and how we process information here