NHS Login Terms of Use, UCP Privacy Notice and Freedom of Information Requests
Terms of use
About your Universal Care Plan
Your Universal Care Plan is a shared record used by health and care professionals to support your care. It may include important information about your health, preferences, and care needs.
You can now view and add information to parts of your care plan using your NHS login via the NHS App or web browser.
For further information please do visit our website: Home | Universal Care Plan
Using your Universal Care Plan
You can use this feature to:
1. View information entered by your health and care professionals.
2. Start a care plan if you do not have one and would like one
3. Share what matters to you with your care team by, adding information about your preferences, needs, and personal circumstances.
4. Help keep your care plan up to date by updating the sections in the UCP that are editable. A full list is available here.
Please make sure the information you enter is accurate and relevant to what that part of the care plan is asking.
Important information about editing your care plan
Not all parts of your care plan can be edited.
Some sections are completed by health and care professionals only.
Some sections may appear greyed out or marked as “read-only” to clearly show you that part of the care plan is not editable.
Information entered into the ‘About you’ section is related to your personal preferences only and does not change demographic information held centrally.
If you think something in a non-editable section is incorrect or wish to update your centrally held demographic information e.g. address, please contact your GP practice.
How information you enter is monitored
Information you add to your care plan is not continuously monitored by health and care professionals and may not be seen immediately.
Important: Do not use this feature for urgent or emergency information
If you need urgent help contact your GP practice, NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency
How your information is used
Information you add becomes part of your Universal Care Plan record.
It may be seen and used by professionals involved in your care.
It will help them make decisions about your treatment and support
For more information, please view our privacy notice (below)
Entering the right information
To help you communicate your needs in the best way:
Only enter information that relates to the specific section you are completing.
Do not use free text fields to report urgent symptoms or request immediate care. At present your care team do not receive a notification informing them that you have started or updated your plan.
Avoid entering information about other people unless it is directly relevant to your care. E.g. carer contingency plan or a personal contact who is helping care for you.
Providing unclear or inappropriate information could affect the care you receive.
Health and care professionals reserve the right to manage your access and, in certain circumstances, may decide to suspend your ability to add and edit information, if the information is not entered in an appropriate way.
If you need any help to complete your Universal Care Plan, speak to a health or care professional involved in your care who can support you.
Working together on your care plan
Your care plan works best when it is created and maintained together with the health and care team looking after you. This way you can:
1. Ask questions and gain further understanding on anything you aren’t sure about.
2. Understand that health and care professionals are responsible for clinical decisions and medical information
Need help?
If you are unsure where to find the Universal Care Plan via your NHS login or are unsure what to enter and how, please view our walk-through video and guide here.
Feedback
If you would like to share feedback about the Universal Care Plan or be part of our community of people with lived experience that support the shaping of the Universal Care Plan, please
contact us at: ucp.programme@swlondon.nhs.uk
Privacy Notice
How your information is used
Health and social care professionals involved in your care need access to your Universal Care Plan (UCP) to provide you with safe, effective, and timely care.
Your UCP is accessed through the Better UCP platform. This enables the health and social care professionals involved in your care to view and update relevant information so they can respond
appropriately to your individual needs.
Professionals will only see and edit the information that
is necessary for them to carry out their specific role.
Sharing information for sickle cell disease
If you have been diagnosed with sickle cell disease, certain personal and clinical information from your UCP may be securely shared with the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS).
This information is used to support public health monitoring, service planning, and research aimed at improving care standards and outcomes for people living with sickle cell disease.
All information shared with the NDRS is handled confidentially, accessed only by authorised personnel, and transferred using secure government arrangements.
Your rights
You have a right to object to the sharing of your information in these circumstances. However, in some cases we have a legal duty to use and share information to ensure you receive safe care
and to meet our statutory obligations.
Information Required Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Under the UK GDPR, we are required to provide you with the following information:
1) Controller contact details
NHS South West London CCG
120 the Broadway
Wimbledon
London
SW19 1RH
2) Data Protection Officer contact details
If you wish to contact your local Data Protection Officer, please email our UCP helpdesk on ucp.helpdesk@swlondon.nhs.uk alongside your post code so we can direct your query to your local officer.
3) Purpose of the processing
Your personal data is processed to support the delivery of direct Care.
Direct care refers to care provided specifically to you as an individual. When you are referred to another service (such as a referral to a specialist in a hospital), relevant and necessary information about your health,circumstances, and care needs may
be shared with other healthcare professionals. The enables them to provide the most appropriate advice, investigations, treatments, therapies and care.
Health and Social care professionals also need to access and update your UCP so they can provide responsive and coordinated care, particularly in urgent and emergency situations.
Where applicable, information shared with the NDRS supports:
• Public health monitoring,
• Service planning,
• Research and quality improvement
• National collection of disease-specific data for sickle cell
disease
4) Lawful basis for processing
The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and related administrative purpose is carried out in accordance with Article 6 and 9 conditions of the UK GDPR: which permit the use of personal information and specific- category data for healthcare provision and compliance with legal obligations.
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task
carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official
authority…’.
Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or
occupational medicine for the assessment of the working
capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision
of health or social care or treatment or the management of
health or social care systems and services…”
We will also recognise your rights established under UK case law
collectively known as the “Common Law Duty of Confidentiality” *
Data sharing to the NDRS is conducted under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Section 251 provisions, and associated regulations.
5) Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data
Your information may be shared with Health and Social care professionals and relevant support staff involved in your care. This includes staff working in:
• NHS organisations
• Hospitals,
• Diagnostic and treatment centers
• Community and social care services
Information is shared only where necessary to support your
personal care and is accessed through secure systems
6) Rights to object
You have the right, under Article 21 of the UK GDPR, to object to some or all of your personal information being processed and shared, including where information is shared with the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS).
You may contact the Data Controller:
• Raise an objection,
• Request further information,
• Opt out of specific data sharing, where appropriate
Please note that this is a right to raise an objection, not an absolute right to prevent processing. In some circumstances, we may still need to use or share your information to comply with legal obligations or to ensure safe and effective care. Where possible, your preferences will be are respected.
The NDRS opt out is different from the National Data Opt Out (NDOO) https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out. If a patient has registered a NDOO:
• NDRS is still able to collect their data because the NDOO
does not apply where an organisation has a legal obligation to
collect confidential patient information. NDRS’s legal
obligation is the National Disease Registries Directions 2021
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/national-disease-register
service-directions.
• For any data that NDRS shares with other organisations
through NHS England’s Data Access Request Service patients opt-outs are applied in line with the National Data
Opt-Out Policy https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data
opt-out/operational-policy-guidance-document
7) Right to access and correct
You have the right to:
• Request access to the personal data held about you
• Ask for any inaccurate information or incomplete information to be corrected.
There is no general right to have accurate medical records deleted, unless ordered by a Court of Law.
8) Retention period
Your information will be retained in line with the law and national guidance.
https://transform.england.nhs.uk/informationgovernance/guidance/records-management-code/
You may also contact NHS South West London or your local Integrated Care Board for more details about retention times.
9) Right to Complain
If you have a concern about how your personal data is being used, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), you can use this link:
https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
or calling their helpline
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)
The ICO has National Offices in Scotland, Northern Ireland and
Wales. Further details are available on the ICO website.
Confidentiality
“Common Law Duty of Confidentiality”.
The Common Law Duty of Confidentiality is not set out in a single written document like an Act of Parliament. Instead, it is based on decisions made by the courts over time. This means it is often referred to as ‘judge-made’ or case law. The law is applied by
reference to those previous cases, so common law is also said to be based on precedent.
Under common law, information provided in circumstances where it is expected that a duty of confidence applies; that information cannot normally be disclosed without the consent of the person
who provided it.
In health care this means that all patient information is confidential, regardless of the format in which it is held. This includes information that is:
• Written on paper
• Stored electronically
• Recorded visually or through audio
• Held in the memory of a health or care professional
.
The duty of confidentiality applied to all patients irrespective of their age or mental capacity
When confidential information may be shared lawfully
Confidential patient information may be disclosed lawfully under common law in the following
circumstances:
1. With the individual’s consent
The person whom the information relates has given their
consent for it to be shared
2. In the public interest
Disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm to the individual or
others, or to protect public safety
3. Where there is a legal obligation
Disclosure is required by law, for example where there
is a court order or statutory requirement.
Where disclosure occurs, only the minimum necessary information will be shared, and it will be handled in accordance with professional, ethical, and legal standards.
Freedom of Information
Editing your UCP from your NHS Login
We have a range of resources to support you in accessing and editing your UCP from your NHS Login