The National Data Guardian has published draft guidance on the appointment of guardians in health and social care organisations with a call for feedback.
It follows a public consultation on the Caldicott Principles and roles of guardians, which led to a proposal to expand the categories of organisations expected to have a guardian. The announcement said the proposal attracted strong support.
A key point of the draft guidance focuses on whether an organisation should appoint a guardian. It says the role should be applied to public bodies exercising functions that relate to the health service, adult social care or adult carer support in England and which handle confidential information about patients and service users.
In addition, other organisations that provide services as part of the publicly funded health service, adult social care, or adult carer support and handle confidential information should also be covered.
The document also describes the role of a guardian and states what organisations should do to support them.
According to National Data Guardian statement, it has tried to build flexibility for the implementation of the guidance and plans to work with the UK Caldicott Guardian Council on providing a support package. This will include free e-learning, online forums for networking, a newsletter, case studies and decision-making tools.
It is now calling for feedback through ndgoffice@nhs.net before 29 January.
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