Our Privacy Policy

Legislation : Privacy Act, The Privacy Amendment Act 2012

NECH recognises that the principal responsibility for a patient’s care lies with that patient’s doctor. Following consultation with doctors and clinical employees, and through reference to current industry best practice standards, we have developed this policy as a minimum standard to ensure that optimal care is given to the patient. Facility management and relevant NECH employees must comply with this policy and ensure that these minimum standards are integrated into the facility’s clinical systems and NECH employee’s individual practice.

Introduction

North Eastern Community Hospital (NECH) and North Eastern Community Nursing Home (NECNH) respects and upholds patients and residents rights to privacy protection under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contacted in the Privacy Act 1988. The APPs replace the National Privacy Principles effective form the 12 March 2014.

This policy describes how NECH/NECNH manage any personal information collected from you.

Personal information about me

NECH and NECNH may hold the following information about you:

  • Name
  • Street
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Date of birth
  • Email address
  • Occupation
  • Health information
  • Health Fund information
  • General Practitioner
  • Referring Doctor
  • Return Service Organisation
  • Religious beliefs or affiliations
  • Transaction details associated with services provided to patients/residents
  • Any addition information provided by patients or residents
  • Any information provided to NECH/NECNH through patient surveys

NECH/NECNH will destroy or de-identify personal information due to redundancy after its legal obligations to retain the information have expired.

What does NECH/ NECNH do with my personal information?

NECH/NECNH uses personal information obtained from patients and residents in relation to the following:

  • To provide medical treatment and care
  • To assist treating doctors, nursing staff and other allied health professionals in providing medical treatment and care
  • To assist with any enquiries made by patients/residents
  • For internal administrative requirements
  • To process private health fund claims
  • To provide information to Medical Practitioners, Registered Nurses and other Allied Health Professionals who provide necessary follow up treatment and ongoing care
  • For benchmarking and clinical indicator reporting in a de-identified form
  • To provide data in both an identified and de-identified form to State Government agencies in compliance with numerous legislative requirements
  • To provide data in a de-identified form to the Private Hospital Data Bureau

And with the consent of patients/residents:

  • Research  and development
  • Service planning
  • Provision of pastoral care
  • Fundraising and/or marketing
Storage and security

NECH/NECNH stores personal information:

  • Contained in paper based and other hard copy documents in a dedicated and secure storage facility located within the Hospital
  • Contained in electronic records in a secure environment
  • Such records are only accessible by those staff members of NECH/NECNH who have bona fide need to access the personal information for the purpose of carrying out their specific duties of employment

Openness

Patients/residents may request access to personal information that NECH/NECNH holds by completing the attached form and forwarding this to the Chief Executive Officer. NECH/NECNH is under no obligation to explain or interpret information held in relation to a patient/resident. The decision to explain or interpret any information held will be considered on an individual basis by either the Chief Executive Officer or Director Aged Care.

If a patient/resident believes that personal information held is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then the patient or resident may request an amendment to be made. Hospital management will consider if the information requires amendment. If management does not agree that there are grounds for amendment, then a note will be added to the personal information stating that the patient or resident disagrees with it.

Call 08 8366 8___ and the patient’s room number (last three digits) to connect directly to a patient’s room.

Call NECH Reception on 08 8366 8111 and ask to be connected to the patient by name.

Download the Access a Patient / Resident Record Form

Resident’s names are displayed on the doorway of their rooms. If a resident does not wish their name to be displayed, this is to be communicated to the Registered Nurse In Charge.

Any questions about this policy, or any complaint regarding treatment of privacy by NECH/NECNH, should also be made in writing to the address below.

Accessibility

NECH is dedicated to providing a website that can be accessed by as wide an audience as possible, including people with disabilities who use assistive technologies to read or listen to the content on the site. Text can be resized using the text size adjust toggle visible in the page header. Click + to increase the font size or – to decrease.

Miscellaneous

In this policy “personal information” and “heath information” have the same meaning as under the Privacy Act.

Contact details:

North Eastern Community Hospital (NECH)
580 Lower North East Road, Campbelltown
Phone 08 8366 8111
Fax 08 8365 1139
Email [email protected]